Sweet Home Pallet
by Virgo Writer
Summary: When she was 5 Misty made a promise to a boy long since forgotten. At 15 she made a promise to herself she failed to keep. Now at 25 she's about to promise her heart to someone else but first she has to tie up some loose ends in Sweet Home Pallet. AAMR
1. Me, Myself and I

This story is obviously a 'Sweet Home Alabama' parody. I loved the movie, I loved the song and the moment I heard that "Nobody finds their soul mate when their ten years old . . . I mean where's the fun in that right?" line I immediately thought of Ash and Misty and just knew I had to write this. Because I had to set the first part in a whole new place I had to make up a lot of original characters. Sorry if it at all seems rushed.

Disclaimer – I don't own much in this story, I barely even own the plot so I think it would be easier just to tell you what I did own, very little.

Sweet Home Pallet – Me, Myself and I

"Will you marry me? I mean when we get older," a five year old boy with ebony locks and chocolate brown eyes asked hopefully looking up at a girl only an inch taller than he was.

"Hurry Toshi!" she called as she began to run away hoping it would make him forget his question and the answer he wanted from her. "We're going to miss it if we don't get there soon," she added as she yelled over her shoulder for him to follow.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he sighed unhappily as he trailed behind the fiery red head knowing he would follow her to the ends of the earth if that was what she wanted. "What's so special about this one anyway Sumi?" he asked her as he caught up panting ever so slightly.

"Because this is the last time I'll ever see it here," she replied so softly that he could barely make it out.

Finally the two reached the beach and stood silent for a few moments in awe just admiring the perfect sunset as if it was made especially for them. It was the sort of sunset you could only get in Pallet and she hoped it would stay with her forever.

The wind tossed her short red hair across her face as her crystal blue eyes stared out into the ocean. This was her favourite place to be, this was where she felt complete and soon she would have to leave it.

"You know you still haven't answered my question," he spoke as night descended on the two friends, best friends.

"Toshi, why would you want to marry me anyway?" she asked him doing her best to avoid the question that had been asked of her.

"So I can kiss you anytime I want," he replied with a cute lopsided grin as he planted a kiss upon the lips of the girl he would love for the rest of his life.

She was surprised at first but soon she accepted the kiss and all that was held within it knowing that a love like theirs held no boundaries.

Suddenly the moon was shrouded in shadow and all that was left was darkness.

"Do you believe in fate?" Misty asked her spiky haired friend as the two sat side by side at the campfire. The third member of their trio lay nearby, peacefully asleep, recovering from a fever.

Brock shrugged. "I suppose that some things are just supposed to happen but I believe we have free will over most things," he told her curious about what had brought on this sudden philosophical discussion.

"I think things like love are set in stone and our decisions only delay it or bring it to us faster," Misty said thoughtfully. "I think in the end we all end up right where we're supposed to be, like it's all predetermined and we just choose which road we take to get there."

"And what's your destiny Misty?" Brock asked, his eyes following her protective gaze.

"Ash," Misty said softly, "he is my destiny."

"Destiny," Kasumi Waterflower muttered as she was awoken by the sound of pouring rain upon the roof. She looked around as her reality slowly came into focus reminding her of what she should be doing. "I can't believe y'all just let me sleep," she gaped as she looked around at them with a playfully glare.

"Oh boo hoo, it was only for a couple of minutes Kasumi," Antony, one of Kasumi's colleagues stated as he put the finishing touches on the dress he was working on.

"Anyway," another colleague, Erie, added, "you have the cutest little Pallet accent when you sleep. Are you sure you're from Cerulean?"

"Positive," Kasumi replied as she got back to her work, or at least tried to. "Oh no, what exactly did I say in my sleep? No don't tell me," she said, "on second thoughts do."

"You said that you were going to give us all absurdly huge raises when you become rich and famous," Jessica teased good naturedly looking up from her own work for only a second. "And something about some guy called Satoshi."

Kasumi blushed at the sound of his name, something she hadn't heard in a long time, but brushed it off immediately acting like she had never even heard that part of Jessica's answer. "Laugh it up now because tomorrow we are all going to be household names."

"Easy for you to say," Kimmy said, "you're the one whose name is on the label. I just make the coffee." She handed Kasumi a cup of warm coffee, which was sure to wake her up.

Kasumi wasn't sure if Kimmy's comment was good natured or spiteful, you never could be sure with her so Kasumi just presumed it wasn't the latter.

She couldn't quite believe it, seven years after she had first arrived here in Emerald City of the Gemstone Regions and finally the dream had come true. In just over twelve hours time she would be having her very first major fashion show as a participant of Emerald City's fashion week.

And it was all thanks to Jacque le Stat, her mentor, her teacher and her friend. She was his prodigee, he had taken her under his wing moulding her from a timid little caterpillar to the beautiful and confident butterfly she was now.

Kasumi smiled at the thought of the years that had gone by here though her heart still pined for the life she had left behind.

Flashback

Two fire Pokemon stood face to face on the floor of the battle arena panting heavily and close to exhaustion. Each Pokemon had only one attack left in it, but that was all that was needed for victory.

Both trainers called out for their most powerful attacks but after that command it seemed all they could do was wait.

The two attacks met each other head on in a vast explosion of fire and fury that filled the entire arena with a heavy shield of smoke. Now it had moved from the test of strategy and battle of wits on the trainers behalf and to a test of strength for the two Pokemon shrouded by smog on the floor. It was a matter of whose power was more awesome and which could retain its strength the longest.

The two Pokemon were equals in all sense of the word both in their own eyes and the eyes of others. They were the same type, shared the same strengths, the same weaknesses so maybe here strength wouldn't be enough to decide a winner.

The smoke cleared slowly making the two trainers more and more anxious by the second. They could both make out a faint silhouette in the mist, which they both hoped to be the shadow of their victory. But slowly that faint silhouette turned to two and that hope was diminished to nothing.

The crowd was perfectly silent for the first time today as they awaited the trainer's calls for one last attack to finish it off even though both Pokemon seemed to have nothing left in them.

But then one of the two flying fire lizards began to sway slightly, began to topple, began to fall leaving only the victor standing.

Again there was perfect silence so quiet you could hear a pin drop to the ground of the Indigo Stadium, but then the crowd went wild cheering for their new master.

"The winner is Ash Ketchum!" the announcer screamed excitedly. "Eighteen year old Ashton Satoshi Ketchum from Pallet Town is the youngest Pokemon Master ever!"

'_I did it,'_ Ash thought to himself proudly in a state of shock. '_I finally did it . . . for Misty.'_

Ash's friends and family ran towards him ready to congratulate him on his victory, on his dream come true, but unbeknowest to them he still had one last part of his dream to fulfil and it involved a certain young redhead who had never left his side.

"Ash you were amazing," Misty awed as she wrapped her arms around her best friends neck in a friendly manner despite the fact that she wished it could be more.

"Thanks Myst," he replied blushing more from how close they were to each other rather than modesty. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"What did I do?" she asked curiously blushing humbly.

"Everything," he replied squeezing her tightly and holding her against his body loving the feeling he got from her being in his arms.

It was more than enough to spark that bit of hope inside her and turn it into a raging fire and convincing her of the decision she had made two years ago thinking of this day.

"Ash," she said pushing back so she could look in his eyes as she finally resolved to tell him the things that had constantly been on her mind and in her heart for the past eight years. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Go on Myst," he told her happily encouraging her on as he noticed the nervousness in her voice. "We're best friends remember, we can tell each other anything and nothing could change that."

"Well you see Ash I . . ." she began.

"Hey Ash! Misty!" a voice yelled cutting off Misty's attempts to confess her true feelings to Ash.

The voice belonged to none other than Melody of Shamouti Island, the girl who had shamelessly flirted with Ash from the moment they met even after Misty had admitted her feelings for Ash to her. It was the one person that Misty hated almost as much as she loved Ash.

"Hey Melody!" Ash called back seemingly forgetting Misty and what she wanted to tell him for the moment. "I can't believe you made it."

"Heck, I wouldn't miss it for the world Ashy," she replied flashing that cheesy, sickeningly sweet smile that Misty had come to despise over the years.

"Come on, Myst let's go catch up with everyone," he told her. "We'll talk at the party and you can tell me whatever it was then." And with that he disappeared along with that fire of hope in her heart.

"Sure," she said dejectedly as she watched his receding figure disappear into the crowds of well wishers and close friends. "I love you Ash."

End Flashback

And that was the moment she gave up, the moment she realised she had to find a new dream, one that didn't involve Ash Ketchum, and this was it.

As a child she'd always been good at drawing and making clothes just like her mother had. She used to spend hours making clothes for her Barbie out of the scraps of material her mother would send her way.

She would always draw designs of the things that came to her head in dreams and what not and now she was being given the chance to make a career out of something she genuinely loved.

She never did tell Ash she loved him, instead she told him she was leaving to pursue a new dream, to make a name for herself beyond that of Misty Waterflower the youngest Pokemon Master's best friend.

"What about your old dreams?" he had asked her after this even though what he really wanted to say was 'What about my dreams? Our dreams?' "Are you just going to give up on them?" he added becoming angry more at himself than Misty.

He thought about all the chances he'd let pass him by, all the times he had just let go and now he was going to have to let her go all because he was too stupid to listen to her before.

'_Yes,'_ she thought sadly to herself as one particular dream came to mind, but she didn't tell him that. "No," she said instead, "I'm just putting them on hold."

And with that she had walked out of his life and away from the life she was sure she so truly destined before he said the three simple words that she knew could bring her back.

"Hey Kasumi," someone called jarring her complicated thoughts.

"Sorry," she said shaking her head to clear it. "I zoned out again didn't I?" she asked.

It seemed she had been doing that a lot lately, she wasn't even sure why. She had barely thought about him and anything before she came to Emerald City in seven years so why now? She had no clue to the answer or how deeply it was going to affect her in the next few months.

"Oh yes but what do you expect," Jessica replied mischievously her eyes twinkling. "I mean if _I_ had your cute movie star boyfriend I'd be in a trance twenty four seven too."

Kasumi blushed as she remembered her cute movie star boyfriend Patrick McAdams who Jessica was referring to so bluntly. The boyfriend she had barely thought about for a week; instead she had been thinking about her best friend who she hadn't seen for far too long.

Patrick was positively adorable with his hazel brown eyes, dark black hair and Irish accent. He was quite simply irresistible. He was also the son of Emerald City's Mayor Cecilia Priestly, which made him one of the most powerful men and the most eligible bachelor in the entire city.

He was also Erie's cousin; which happened to actually be how the two had met a almost a year ago and they'd been going out since then. Maybe it had been love at first sight but not for Misty. She was sure that it was her need to forget that had made her go out with Patrick and over their time together he kind of grew on her.

Maybe not in the same way that Ash had grown on her, but that was love at first sight no matter how badly she wanted to believe it was hate. She knew deep down she would never feel the same way about Patrick as she did about Ash, but all she needed right now was a distraction to help hide her from the truth, that she would never be over Ash.

So really Patrick was kind of part of her intricate plan to try and convince her brain that she was completely over Ash and that she would never have to cry about him again. But sometimes the most well-laid plans are the ones that fall to pieces at the seams.

"I'll get it," Kasumi said as a knock was heard at the warehouses door.

"If its Daemon, tell him I'm not here," Erie said referring to her former boyfriend of less than six hours.

"But I thought you broke up with Daemon last week?" Kasumi asked curiously quite confused as eminent on her face.

"No, that was Damien," Jessica replied for her. "Really Kaz, you have to pay attention to these things."

"Will do," she joked as she opened the door revealing the Fed-ex boy holding a large bouquet of red, long stemmed roses and a clipboard.

"Are you Kasumi Waterflower?" he asked.

She nodded as she signed her name and took the flowers from the boy. She couldn't think of any one who would send her red roses. Even Ash knew she was opposed to anything so clichéd.

She shook her head vigorously. She wasn't supposed to be thinking about. She had a boy friend and a show to put on in less than twelve hours. She couldn't let herself be distracted.

As soon as she was about to get back to work the shrill ring of a phone pierced through the silence and their eardrums. They all stopped their work to check their phones.

"Um, Kasumi," Antony said cautiously. "I think your flowers are ringing."

Kasumi walked to the flowers and carefully pulled a compact, mobile phone from within.

"Hello?" she asked as she did.

"How do you like the flowers?" a smooth, male voice asked her before she could ask another question.

"They're perfect," she lied flawlessly to the caller without even a hint of sarcasm. "Thank you for the thought," she added, feeling somewhat guilty.

"It's just to say good luck," he told her. "And remember I'll be right there along with all your other adoring fans ready to whisk you away. Sadly though it will be to my mothers latest charity event in Emerald Square afterwards."

"Damn, I almost forgot," she sighed. She hadn't forgotten; she was just hoping that maybe Patrick might. Kasumi never forgot anything, no matter how hard she tried.

Patrick chuckled softly. "I can't wait to see you again," he told her matter-of-factly. "I love you."

"Ditto," she said softly before ending the conversation.

She still couldn't bring herself to tell Patrick that she loved him, or anyone else for that matter. It had been seven years, she thought that would be enough time, but it never would be enough time.

"Looks like we're done here guys," Kasumi said happily as she surveyed the scene of intricate dresses and exhausted dress makers/designers. "I'll finish off here. See you all tonight at the City Centre."

They all nodded relieved to be able to go home and get at least a few hours sleep before daybreak. They had spent most of the night perfecting everything for the show.

Kasumi carefully gathered the dresses in their groups and trolleys getting them ready for moving to the Centre. The truck would be here in two hours but she needed to make sure there was nothing more that needed to be done before they got there.

At least now she had nothing to worry about for the next hour or so. She had spent the whole night worrying about whether or not she would finish on time, but now it seemed as though it was all quite futile for now all was done with hours to spare.

Now all that was left to worry about was that nagging thought that something was going to happen tonight and she wasn't entirely sure if she was going to like it.

"Kasumi!" people called from every direction trying to snag an interview with Emerald City's hottest new designer.

Kasumi waved and smiled as she followed Patrick towards the waiting limo.

"Oh god, I can't believe I did it," she exclaimed as she relaxed into her seat exhaustedly. "I really did it. I am now officially a designer."

"And, as I can see, you wouldn't have it any other way," Patrick smiled at her coyly.

Kasumi tried to block the image of Ash that wavered into her mind. It was so hard to escape. His chocolate brown eyes decorated with flakes of the purest amber seemed to smile at her, enticing her and reminding her of what she left behind. His smile seemed to wrap it's way around her heart speaking to her in a way that she had never thought possible.

She closed her eyes falling deeper under his spell and into her unconsciousness. She could feel her dreams clouding into her reality as everything about her drifted further and further away.

'_No,'_ she tried to warn herself to no avail. She thought she had left that part of her that was so in love with Ash back when she left him. For seven years she was able to convince herself she had, yet suddenly he had wormed his way into her heart all over again.

"We're here," Patrick said breaking her away from her thoughts.

She was sure that he had been talking to her somewhere along the way to their destination but she couldn't quite remember if she had answered him or not or even what he had said to begin with. She just hoped he hadn't noticed.

"I thought we were going to Emerald Square," Kasumi said more to herself as she surveyed the peaceful surroundings.

It was a beautiful lush forest but the only problem was that it reminded her of her days as a Pokemon trainer and a specific trainer in particular. I'm sure you can all guess which one, the one that broke her heart and turned her cold, the one that had been her entire world for as long as she could remember, the one that she had to leave behind all of seven years ago chasing after a new dream.

"What do you think?" Patrick asked her a wide grin forming on his face.

She knew this was for her and she knew it was supposed to make her happy. Emerald City with it's bright lights and sounds had very few places even remotely resembling forests and she knew he would have had to look mighty hard to find a place like this, especially one so similar to her real home.

She tried to be pleased or at least look it, but it was hard not to force a smile when one look at this place flooded her with so many memories she longed to forget. This place was just too much.

Patrick noticed the tears falling down her face long before she did but blinded by his own happiness he presumed that she shared the same joy, that she had fallen in love with this place in seconds just as he had.

How wrong could he be?

"There's a reason I brought you here Kasumi," he began standing in front of her and holding her hands in his. "You know I never do anything unless I'm sure and I know I've never been as certain of anything as I am right now. Kasumi Waterflower, will you marry me?"

And in seconds Patrick was down on one knee looking up at her hopefully in a similar expression to five year old Toshi. She had said yes to Toshi all those years ago, she had told Ash that she would marry him when she was fifteen and yet here she was again in the same situation, but he wasn't there this time.

Patrick looked so similar to Ash in some ways. His hair was the same colour, though not as messy, and his eyes were a similar shade of chocolate brown, but not so brilliant, and his smile even resembled Ash's in it's own way but not as breathtaking. Patrick was like Ash's lesser twin that was saying all the things that she longed for Ash to say.

She felt as though she was being pulled in two different directions.

Random thoughts flashed through her mind, most of them about Ash. There were all these things suddenly pounding through her head that she hadn't thought about for seven years that she hoped she had forgotten.

She was reminded of something her sisters told her once "don't settle for the one you can live with, wait for the one you can't live without."

'_I can live without Ash,'_ she tried to reason with herself, but what good's a life without love and happiness? She could tell her mind that over and over again but her heart always knew better.

And right now her heart was telling her no, well actually, more like screaming it at 'the top of its lungs'. It was the part of her spewing these pictures of Ash into her subconscious trying to remind her of her destiny, the destiny she had decided on at such a young age.

But then there was her head, the part that told her yes, the part that was so consumed with the pain that it tried to block out all the rest. It was the part that always won, ever since that day her mind had been in control of her heart and this was no different.

"Yes," she said softly mustering up all the certainty she could despite the fact that it was about as far away from the truth as you could get. There was only one thing she had been more uncertain about in her life and he was a major part of her uncertainty now.

"This is great," Patrick replied estatically. "Well, we've got to call your parents, my parents, friends, family. They're all going to be thrilled," he added as he whipped out his cellular phone.

"Um . . . maybe we should keep this quiet for a little while," Kasumi suggested trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice. "I want to tell my parents directly."

"Perfect," Patrick said. "I'd love to meet your parents. I'll book us a flight for Cerulean City tomorrow."

"NO!" Kasumi exclaimed. "I mean, I haven't seen my folks in ages and so I don't want to just spring this all on them so suddenly. So I'll go and then we'll come back to Emerald City."

"Well as you insist my darling," he said charmingly as Kasumi sent him an even more forced smile than before. "Anything for you."

"Thank you," she smiled.

Kasumi rushed to pack her bags frantically ravaging through her draws.

She would stop now and then wondering if what she had was really suitable for her old home. I mean, things were different in small towns like those in Kanto and she wasn't sure if some of her designs were really suitable for anything other than a night on the town in Emerald City.

She had no idea what things would be like there, when she was coming back or even what she was going to do when she got there. This whole thing was just one big confusing mess that she wished she had never been caught up in.

"Toge toge," the no longer baby Pokemon said happily to which Kasumi nodded her head in understanding.

She reached for another draw when a glare of light caught her eye. It was coming from the typical Tiffiny's gold and diamond ring resting awkwardly at the base of her ring finger.

She tried not to scrutinise it, but she couldn't help but think how out of place it looked on her. She had never been into bright flashy things like diamonds and gold bands and it seemed to contrast appallingly with her creamy white skin.

The ring was totally wrong for her, not to mention a couple of sizes too big, and as thoughts of a man not her fiancé passed through her mind she couldn't help but become aware of that fact.

'_I'll just put it away for safe keeping,'_ she reasoned to herself not wanting to admit the real reasons why she wanted to remove herself from the ring. '_It'll just fall off otherwise.'_

So with that, she closed her final suitcase and looked to her long time friend with a soft smiled. "It looks like we're going home Togetic," she said her smile both sad and excited. "Back home to Pallet Town."

to be continued

A very long first chapter it seems but there was a lot to get through.

I hope you all enjoyed. Please tell me what you think so that I can try and make improvements and so the next chapter won't seem quite so; what's the word for it? Plagerised?

Just to make sure there is no confusion here Kasumi and Sumi are Misty, and Toshi and the Satoshi mentioned by Jessica are Ash. So now that's all cleared up . . . review, please.

I've reposted this chapter with a few changes. Firstly, I changed a characters name and secondly I tried to make Misty's relationship with Patrick seem less fulfilling. In the origninal it seemed a bit too cutesy and so in love at some stages, but this way its clear that its kind of loveless so nobody thinks badly of Ash for any attempt to break them up. Also note, chapter 2.


	2. Homecoming

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. I just thought I should mention that in case anybody was confused or something.

Sweet Home Pallet – Homecoming

"Hey Kasumi, I'm glad I finally got through to you," Scarlet spoke into her cell phone as she sat around a table with her friends. "I didn't get the chance to congratulate you on last nights show before your boyfriend whisked you away from us all on some kind of romantic whim."

"Yeah, not many did," Kasumi replied as she readjusted her sunglasses. "Guess what, that boyfriend with the romantic whim proposed," Kasumi said her voice lacking the enthusiasm expected from such an event.

"By propose you mean . . ." Scarlet trailed off more excited about the way things were than Kasumi herself.

Kasumi made the appropriate noises as Scarlet seemed to continue without prompting.

"Please tell me you said you'd think about it and not straight out no," Scarlet begged. "You know it's unhealthy to be holding onto the boy like you are."

"I said yes," she stated nonchalantly.

"And you know what's even more unhealthy?" Scarlet continued, "bringing up a guys hope like this on the chance that you may actually be in love with him and not someone else. Are you sure that was the best idea?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Kasumi sighed.

"Look, why don't you come round to the café? Krysanthia and the rest of them are here and you can show off that cute little rock that's probably sitting in your bag right now and not on your precious little ring finger knowing you," Scarlet sighed exasperatedly at Kasumi's obvious behaviour.

"It doesn't fit," Kasumi replied as she shifted awkwardly in her seat attempting to defend her neurotic behaviour.

Scarlet seemed to ignore this explanation and moved right along in the conversation with only a condescending 'uh-hun' to acknowledge Kasumi's hardly believable defence. "Where are you right now anyway? The connection is terrible."

"I'm in Kanto," she sighed glancing at a sign along the road with 'Welcome to Cerulean' written in big bold letters. "It seems like I'm going home."

"Oh god," Scarlet exclaimed only seconds before the phone went dead.

Ashton Satoshi Ketchum, the worlds youngest Pokemon Master, though not as young as he used to be, collapsed tiredly into his couch after what could quite possibly have been the longest day of his life. And as we all know, it's about to get longer.

It had been a very long day today and he was afraid it would never end. It seemed there was just too much to do and not enough sunlight to do it as his workload became heavier and heavier. He could barely remember the last time he had a day to himself, he didn't think he ever had in the last couple of years, but at least now he was making a good start.

He closed his eyes trying to get a few moments rest before he would have to tend to all his Pokemon and start on his training as he did most evenings. He was surprised that his hectic schedule allowed him to sleep at all, but what little he got was a god sent.

But today was not one of those days where sleep would come easily to the young Pokemon Master, it seemed some one had other plans for him which demanded that he remained conscious at least for a little longer.

Just as he felt his eyelids grow heavy and his thoughts moved into the pleasant realms of fantasy the turn of wheels and the crunch of gravel made him think otherwise.

"Go away," he called sleepily as he tried to make himself comfortable on a two-seater couch which barely held half of his six foot two figure.

He waited to hear the sound of tyres moving in the opposite direction along his drive way, but it never came. Instead came the annoying, ear bursting sound of a hand being pressed against the cars horn.

"Fine I'm coming," he yelled angrily as the noise stopped and he walked towards his door. Boy was he going to give this person a piece of his mind for interrupting his precious sleep time.

But what met his eyes made him change his mind just a little, for now at least.

"How can I help you miss?" Ash asked smiling appreciatively as he looked her up and down taking in every perfect curve and not yet realising whom she was. He was going to be as charming as possible until something told him otherwise.

Misty Kasumi Waterflower glared at him under her Gucci sunglasses. Maybe if he had seen that he would have known better than to mess with this red head, but then again she had always been his weakness.

"Ash Ketchum get your lazy stubborn ass down here right this instant and give me back my ring. Please," she asked/yelled at him as she lifted the sunglasses off her head so she could get a better look at him.

The seven years apart had been kind to the boy she used to know. You could see that he had matured but one thing still remained the same, he had the same youthful, naïve, chocolate brown eyes that still haunted her dreams every night that pierced right through her soul. If possible, he was even more handsome now than when she had left him all those years ago.

"Misty!" he exclaimed as he recognised the telltale fiery red hair, the cerulean blue eyes and the infamous 'Waterflower glare' that was cast across her ever perfect features.

He knew it was time to runaway, that if he didn't take this time to run away right this instant he would be reintroduced to her mallet that is on the off chance that she hadn't found something bigger and better in Emerald City. He knew that staying on that porch was a death wish in its own right but he just couldn't quite compel his feet to move or his eyes to look away.

Misty walked up the steps towards him her whole aura intimidating, maybe even more so than usual, as she got closer and closer.

But Ash stood his ground as he stared down at her taking a few moments to notice how perfectly her chosen outfit of black boots, a black and white cow print skirt and cream shoulder-less turtleneck accented her already perfect figure.

"It's great to have you here Myst," Ash said sarcastically as she glared up at him from a threatening five foot seven inches. "So how are you? What brings you back to little old Pallet after seven years of not even a phone call or letter just to say hey?"

She tried not to be phased by his comments despite the truth and pain they held for her. She wasn't going to back down or break out into tears like she wanted to, or even fall into his arms like she could have years ago, she had come too far, she was so close to getting over him that she couldn't just let him break down all her walls like that.

Her eyes scanned over his fingers for the prized possession she had come all the way from Emerald City to collect. He had promised her he would never take it off, that he would keep it with him forever. He had lied.

It wasn't where it was supposed to be and now that she actually thought about it she could only remember one or two times when it actually had been there.

'_Do I mean so little to him?'_ she thought to herself sadly for a second before focusing on the supposed meaning of her visit and her fiancé waiting for her back in her new home.

She promised herself then and there that the moment he handed over her ring she would be done with him forever and she would never think of him again. She would finally get over him just like she had promised herself from the beginning and this would be the first step in the right direction.

"I'm fine," she told him smiling sarcastically sweet at him. "Now where's my ring?"

"Like I'd tell you," he said before opening the door and slipping inside.

"The only reason you're not giving it to me right now is to piss me off," she yelled at him. "You happy now, cause guess what? It's working.''

"No," Ash replied. "The only reason I'm not giving it to you is because you've turned into a bitter old hag and think you're so much better than the rest of us just because you picked up a new accent in that flash faultless city of yours. So screw you, and screw your precious little ring." And with those last words of 'encouragement' he slammed the heavy wooden door in her pretty little face.

"Oh real mature Ketchum," she yelled through the door as she slammed her fist into it several times too caught up in her anger to even notice the pain she was inflicting onto herself and the small dents that were appearing on the wooden panels.

"That's what I though too," he yelled back at her.

Ash smiled smugly to himself as he dusted his hands and walked away from the door and, for as long as she would let him, her too. He stopped suddenly and ran to the back door as he suddenly remembered that it was unlocked glad to find he had beaten Misty to it.

He guessed that Misty wasn't nearly as smart as she always made herself out to be.

Too bad he had underestimated the feisty red head, yet again.

He smiled proudly as he grabbed himself a beer from the fridge and marched proudly towards the lounge closing the front door as he did.

'_Wait,'_ he thought freezing in mid step. He groaned as he did a double take on things knowing for sure that he hadn't left the front door open.

"You know, you really shouldn't lock someone out when they know where the spare key is hidden," a familiar voice called from behind him carrying that ever present note of arrogance and sarcasm.

Ash spun around slowly and there she was again sitting on _his_ bar stool gently petting _his_ prized Pokemon acting as if it and this entire place were her own.

He took a deep breath and counted back from ten trying his best to resist that distinct urge to strangle her to death right about now.

"You know Myst, that's the thing about spare keys," Ash replied trying his best to keep a calm even, non-committal tone, "it would help if a person would tell you where they hid it."

"Whatever Ash," she muttered to him. "Just give me what I came for and I'll go, you'll never see me again and all will be back to normal."

"Sure, typical of you Myst just walking out on things," he hissed at her barely even grasping the meaning of his own words. "Just walk on out before people get too close for your liking, just like you always do."

"I did not walk out on you Ash Ketchum," she stated angrily, "so don't even try to imply that I did. The only reason I'm here is for my ring and the sooner I get it the sooner I'm gone."

"I bet your folks don't even know you're here," he speculated watching her reaction. Her angry scowl disappeared for a second as she was hit by the harsh reality of his words. "Gees, that pretentious little city of yours has changed you a lot more than I thought Misty."

"Oh, and what's that supposed to mean?" she said bitingly trying to rid herself of the sting left from earlier comments and the sickly feeling of guilt in her stomach.

"It's supposed to mean that you're my best friend who I haven't seen for about seven years and the first thing you say to me is 'where's my ring?'" Ash commented angrily looking down at her from a towering height that made her feel more insignificant than a bug. The look of utter disappointment was enough to make her skin crawl with shame. "No hey Ash, old buddy, old pal, how's life treating you? Had any nice battles lately? Caught any interesting Pokemon? Not even a good old fashioned how are you?

"You'd think you had walked into the house of a complete stranger," he finished resignedly.

"Maybe I have," she replied sadly without even thinking.

Ash looked at her sympathetically for a second but changed his mind.

The old Misty he would have taken in with open arms. He would have told her how much he missed her after all these years and how much she truly meant to him, but this Misty wasn't worth it. She wasn't worth his time or his words and when all was said and done that's all he had to give her, all that would ever come close to what she had in Emerald City.

"Whatever Misty," he sighed taking one last look at her as he grabbed the cordless phone off its cradle. "All I know is that you just broke into my house and even down here in Pallet that's considered a criminal offence."

Ash quickly shut yet another door in her face before she had the chance to argue back.

He didn't want to hear what she had to say anymore. Perhaps he was finally giving up on Misty, but then perhaps it had all only just begun.

'_Damn you Ash Ketchum,'_ Misty thought to herself as she absentmindedly ran her hand through Pikachu's silky, golden fur.

She was reminded of what a good a job he had always done in taking care of his Pokemon. They were always like a family to him and for a long time she had been a part of that family.

He doesn't mean it the electric mouse told her as he noticed the forlorn expression on her face.

"No he does," she sighed looking away from the mouse's questioning eyes. "And what's worse is that he was right."

She sighed again as she looked out the window. It was almost sunset and the brilliant shades of red, orange and purple had already begun to creep their way into the horizon.

She couldn't remember seeing anything so beautiful since she had left for the city life and she missed it almost as much as she missed Ash.

'_Don't cry,'_ she told herself as she felt the moist drops collecting in her eyes. She didn't want to cry anymore, she had too much on the line to cry. '_Crying won't solve a damn thing.'_

She had already cried far too many tears for Ash Ketchum and for a long time she had thought she was done with that.

How she wished things were different right now?

She didn't want to be angry with Ash or for him to be angry with her. She wanted to be able to walk through that door and act like they hadn't been apart for as long as they had. She wanted things to be the way they used to but she knew she had thrown that away years ago.

A knock on the door brought her away from her thoughts.

Ash finally stalked out of his room smiling smugly as he went to greet whoever was at the door. She tried to ignore her racing heartbeat as she noticed that familiar gleam of mischief sparkling in his eyes.

"Well it's a pleasure to see you this evening Officer Femesse," Ash said loudly emphasizing the word 'Officer' for Misty's benefit.

She gulped slightly at the word. She really had thought that he was joking when he told her he was calling the cops that they would work things out how they usually do, with a good old shocking from Pikachu. She didn't think Ash would take it this far.

"Gees, what's with the formalities Ash," the officer replied as he walked into the lounge and spotted Misty. "If you're trying to impress her with your Pokemon Master connections then bringing down the town sheriff probably isn't the best idea."

"Take a closer look," Ash suggested throwing Misty a distasteful look as she giggled at the officer's comment. "I want her arrested for breaking and entering."

"Excuse me but I didn't break in," Misty stated glaring at Ash and sending him a distasteful look of her own. "I used a key," she said holding up the key as evidence.

"Yeah, after I locked you out," Ash argued.

"Whatever, you were there so I don't think it counts as breaking and entering," she replied sarcastically.

"Sure, you walk into my house without my permission and that's not breaking and entering," he answered in the same sarcastic tone.

"I used the key you keep under the flower pot and that's the only thing I broke when I kicked it over because you were being so damn immature," she hissed.

"This coming from the girl who just kicked over a flower pot because I shut a door in her face and followed me around all because of some bike," he muttered.

The officer's eyes flicked from one person to another slowly putting two and two together. He would recognise that childish banter – that chemistry – that went on constantly between the two when they were at ends with each other just about anywhere, that voice and the glare flowing across her features made it clearer still. The bike thing just clinched the deal.

"Wait a second," Officer James Femesse said stopping the argument. He did as Ash told him and took a closer look at his worthy opponent. "It couldn't be . . . Misty Waterflower?"

"In the flesh," she replied with a smile forgetting about her argument with Ash. "Now you wouldn't go and arrest little old me, would you James?" she asked him sneaking a sly glance at Ash as she pulled the patented puppy-dog look she had perfected over the years.

"That depends," James sighed. "Misty, did you enter Ash's house without his permission?"

"Maybe, just a little," she replied innocently gesturing modestly to prove her point.

"I'm sorry Misty but I'm going to have to take you in," James replied sadly. "Don't worry you can have your old cell and everything."

Misty forced a smile onto her face as James placed the cuffs on her wrists after Ash specifically asked him to, her being a rather dangerous criminal who was suspected to be armed with a mallet and all. She had tried to convince James that it was completely unnecessary but he replied by telling her that it wasn't very often that he got to do this and she complied woefully.

"They suit you Myst," Ash smiled smugly as James led her away.

"I'm not through with you Ketchum," she hissed vehemently glaring at him through her red bangs. "Next time we'll see who's wearing the handcuffs."

"Gees Misty," he called after her. "I didn't realise you were into that kinky sort of thing."

The only reply was an infuriated "ARRGH!!!"

to be continued

Finally updating something. The worst part is that I've already completed the next three chapters of this story so I have no excuse for taking so long.

So if you want to see that next chapter, please review and if there is still interest in this story, I will try my best to put the next chapter up as soon as possible.


	3. Surprise?

Disclaimer – everything I own is trapped in my head which really isn't the best place for anything worth putting value on.

Sweet Home Pallet – Surprise?

Misty stood holding the phone gingerly as she listened to the dull ringing tone in her ear.

"Hello, can I please speak to Leo?" she asked into the phone crossing her fingers for luck.

"Misty?" a voice on the other end asked.

"Um . . . surprise daddy?" she said nervously.

"Is that my little girl?" she heard her mother ask in the background.

"Um, daddy," she said as innocently as she could twirling the phone cord around her finger. "I've got a little problem . . ."

"I'll be down in thirty minutes," he replied with a sigh.

"Thank you daddy," she replied happily. "I love you," she added before hanging up the phone as soon as she could.

Misty sighed as she was led back to her holding cell. Everything here was so familiar, dragging up old memories of all the mischief Ash had gotten her into in their younger days.

It seemed so dark and lonely without him there. It was big and empty, the way everything seemed when he wasn't there to fill that space inside her. Her big, dark and lonely cell was just another reminder of her past.

She hated being back in Pallet Town. Every memory she had of this place was so caught up in Ash she couldn't even go a moment without thinking about him.

She'd tried so hard and gone so far just trying to escape him and the pain that seized her heart every time she thought about him. She'd left the sunny seaside town knowing that she was going to miss Pallet and almost everything about Pallet, but in her mind she had no choice.

Emerald City had seemed the perfect place. At times she hated it - the city was so cold and different. She felt more alone there than she ever had in her life, but she got used to that over time. There were worse places to be.

Emerald City was pretty much the exact opposite of everything Ash loved or would stand for. Everything was different there. There were no Pokemon in the Gemstone region. There were no trees in Emerald City – nothing natural or pure. Everything was artificial and stone, built high up to the sky like some great concrete prison.

There was nothing there that could have reminded her of Ash so that as time passed, she could eventually go days, even weeks without thinking about him.

In Pallet everything reminded her of him, and now she felt even more alone.

She couldn't believe she had really let it be so long. She had left him and everything behind knowing there was a good chance she might never come back although part of her had always intended to return someday when it didn't hurt so much to see his face. She didn't know what kept her away all these years and already she couldn't bear to leave it again.

But then she remembered.

She remembered exactly what had kept her away all these years. Exactly why she had run so far away from the small seaside town she grew up in. Exactly why she had needed so badly to escape everything she held so dearly here.

The reason was him. Yet again, the reason was him.

Misty sighed, remembering a promise she had made many years ago. She promised she would never leave Ash and she had never intended to break it. She had always thought that leaving Ash would be too painful to even contemplate.

But that was before. Before she gave up on all the dreams she held for herself in Ash; before something happened that made her change her mind.

Perhaps she gave up on him long before that day, who knows, but that was the day her heart broke and strangely enough, after that it wasn't nearly as hard to leave him as she had imagined.

Leo Waterflower sighed as he walked into the Pallet Town Police Station feeling a certain sense of nostalgia. He could still remember the last time he'd been called down here under similar circumstances.

'_What was it?'_ he thought to himself as he nodded to one of the older officers who he knew by first name just like the rest of them here. '_Seven, eight years?_ _Certainly too long.'_

"Hey Leo," the Sergeant in charge said cheerfully. "Do you want me to get you a cup of coffee?"

"Sure Charlie," Leo replied with the same enthusiasm.

"White two sugars?" Sergeant Charlie Robinson asked checking his memory.

Leo nodded. "But don't tell Lizzie about the sugars."

"Police Officers honour," Charlie told him placing his hand over his chest as he told one of his underlings to get Leo's order.

"Well I guess I better pay the bail now," Leo sighed. "How much is it this time?"

"Come on Leo, sit down for a while. We'll catch up on old times. I mean, it's not every day your youngest daughter gets taken to the big house," Charlie suggested. "Well not for most people."

Leo couldn't help but break into a smile at this. It seemed that she was just as notorious now as she was then. Maybe even more so after her big break.

It was strange that only about half an hour earlier he had gotten this completely unexpected call from his daughter telling him to come down to the police station. He really thought he would have been used to it by now with all the mischief she and Ash used to get themselves into but after five years without a word he'd forgotten all about it.

"I mean the guys are quite thrilled to have our very own town celebrity back in her cell," Charlie added as he gestured to a chair.

"So what did she do this time anyway?" Leo asked taking the seat positioned opposite Charlie.

"Breaking and entering," he replied handing Leo the mug shots of his daughter.

Leo chuckled.

There she stood at her daunting height of five foot seven at best, her fiery red hair matching the angry smirk resting on her perfect features. She reminded him a lot of her mother right then.

"Are you going to let me guess whose house she broke into?" Leo asked knowingly in a rhetorical manner. It was obvious exactly where she had committed her 'crime'. Why else would she come back to Pallet Town so suddenly?

"I'd be surprised if you didn't get this right first go," Charlie replied.

"That's what I thought," Leo sighed. "Bet he made her wear the cuffs and everything."

"Anything to get her going."

"I guess I better go bail her out now?" Leo said as he finished last of his coffee.

"Let her stay a little longer," Charlie chuckled. "It's not often we have a celebrity like her in our mists."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"C'mon Ash just drop the charges already," James insisted as he tried to talk some sense into the boy.

He had headed back to Ash's after dropping Misty off at the station ensuring the safe arrival of Pallet's other national hero – or heroine if you prefer – to try and make him change his mind. He had toyed with the idea of picking Jesse up on the way knowing that his wife would have better chance of knocking some logic into Ash's thick skull but then he didn't want to have to lock her up too. Two mallet-wielding redheaded arrests in the same day would just be scary not to mention the harmful side-effects having the two scheming girls in the same police station would put on his health, and perhaps more importantly (especially if Jesse asked) his marriage.

Right now he wished he had taken that risk.

There was just no getting through to the boy, he was almost as stubborn as she was and that was saying a lot. It seemed the only thing that would even have a chance of getting through to him was a wooden mallet and a paper fan.

He just wished that they would both put their tenacity aside for a few moments and realise they were meant for each other.

James had always felt somewhat guilty about the way things had worked out for Ash and Misty. He knew he wasn't responsible for Misty's decision or what happened, but part of him always felt guilty for the ensuing pain.

It had been he and Jesse who had been the ones to convince Ash to put his heart on the line and tell Misty how he felt. They had been the ones who'd gone and gotten his hopes up only to have Misty dash them to shreds.

But how was she to know when her own heart was breaking in two?

James often wondered if Misty even realised how much pain she had inflicted with her words that day.

"Ash, there's nothing here for me now. I've got to find a new dream . . ." that's what she told him, trailing off on the end and even though she never said it aloud, Ash knew exactly what she meant. Everybody knew. She was running away, trying to find a new a dream; dream that didn't involve him – a life that didn't revolve around his.

And from what he heard she had, it had been seven long years in the making but finally she had made herself a life that didn't involve Ash and she was just getting her life back together when something came up which demanded she return home to his waiting arms.

For James knew that no matter how far away she went, or how long they spent apart, that would always be home for her. That no matter how many tears she had to cry, or how many times she told herself she was over him for good, home would always be in his arms.

And the same was for Ash too because as they say home is where your heart is and everyone always knew exactly where their hearts lay.

He could still remember that look of shock flowing onto Ash's face as his heart broke in two. It had taken too many chances of almost losing her to make him realise what he felt for his best friend and suddenly he really was losing her, for good.

"Ash, what happened? Did you tell her?" he had asked as the pair walked back towards the party heading in different directions. It was the first step towards their first moments apart in a long-lived eight years of friendship.

"It wouldn't have made a difference," Ash had replied a lone tear falling down his face. It was tear that he wouldn't let Misty see no matter what, a tear he had vowed he would never let Misty know he cried, and a tear that shattered to the floor like his broken heart. "She would have left either way; only this way doesn't hurt so much."

And here it was again, that lone tear falling down his matured face and shattering to the floor. A tear he had probably been holding back since he first recognised those eyes he had fallen in love with long before he knew what love was, or perhaps is.

It seemed that Ash had again been hit with the harsh reality. He had let the love of his life walk out of his life and now she wanted the only thing he had left to hold on to.

James sighed. "You know if you don't drop the charges I'm going to drop them for you anyway," he said, for Ash's sake acting like he hadn't seen him cry just now, or at least as close to crying as Ash had come since Misty's premature departure. "It's your decision Ash."

Ash sighed as he turned away from his friend. "Is it James?" he asked softly as he walked away. "Is it really my decision anymore?"

James got the feeling that he wasn't talking about the charges anymore.

"Please say something," she said softly as she sat in the car along side her father driving to her parent's home in Pallet.

"What am I supposed to say to my daughter who I haven't seen in over seven years?" he asked her monotonously.

"Hi would be a good start," she replied. "Maybe how are you?"

"Fine, how are you Misty?" Leo asked his daughter not taking his eyes off the road before them.

"I'm fine, you?" she asked turning her head so as not to be caught in her fathers penetrating side glances.

"Good."

He sighed as they fell back into the awkward silence that had already filled most of the car ride. He had never found it particularly easy to talk to his youngest daughter, she was so different from her sisters who would talk about anything and all he had to do was sit there and nod pretending like he understood what LSBAC was.

Misty had always been so guarded. It was hard to get close to her, to get past her walls and near her heart. It was really no surprise; she had gone from the runt of the Sensational Sisters to the most beautiful of all and her walls were a protection she had kept up her whole life.

In her younger years she had been constantly over shadowed by her three sisters. She had always been in the background doing what her sisters demanded of her and nothing else. Finally it was time for them to stay out of her sunshine and she wasn't fully prepared for that.

Misty had definitely blossomed over the many years of her journey with Ash and it almost saddened Leo to know that he had not been a part of it. That he hadn't been there to watch his child grow up into the beautiful woman she had become.

Leo had always felt that he had missed out on an important part of her life. Sure, he and Lizzie had raised her for the first ten years but when she went off with Ash she didn't come back as the same person. Misty had grown more as a person in just a year with Ash than she had in her entire life and he'd missed out on that.

When he first met Ash he had always imagined that this would be the boy that she would spend the rest of her life with and he was actually kind of looking forward to that. Ash had always been a nice boy with a good heart and a real sense of adventure. He would do anything for Misty and anyone with a brain could see that in just a glance. Except maybe Misty.

He had always thought that no matter what happened in life, that in the end Ash and Misty would still be standing strong in each others arms, but now he wasn't so sure.

"So what brings you back here?" he asked his daughter trying to break the silence that was enveloping them.

"Just tying up a few loose ends," she replied vaguely as she stared out the window at the lines of the road that raced beside the car putting her into a somewhat hypnotic trance.

Leo nodded his head even though he knew she wasn't looking at him. Their conversation seemed to be getting no where.

He really wanted her to be able to talk to him. He wanted to know what was going on in her mind or even just her life but he never seemed to be able to open her up.

It was so odd.

Misty had never been big on talking and yet she was able to say more in a glance then some people could in a whole speech. Sometimes he would just sit there trying to figure her out, as if she were some enigma he was destined to solve.

But Ash could always read her. He always seemed to know exactly what she was thinking, exactly what she was feeling and anything else about her. It was as if the two were connected somehow, as if they knew every thought that passed the others mind like their own.

Kind of wished Ash was around right now.

But he wasn't, so for now Leo would have to do the best he could.

"Are you going to see your sisters?" Leo asked trying to start a conversation up once again. "They're always saying how much they miss you. They'd probably love a visit."

"Maybe," she replied monotonously almost as if she hadn't even heard his question. "I'm not sure how long I'll be here."

"Sounds like you're hitting all the regular spots," Leo chuckled lightly hoping that maybe he could at least manage a smile out of her. "Jail. Home. Ash's place."

"Look daddy," she answered tiredly as she stared forlornly out the window, "I'm not really in the mood for talking right now. All I want to do is sleep."

Leo smiled to himself as he reached to the side and patted his daughter's hand comfortingly. "I understand sweetheart. It's been a long day."

She took a quick glance at her dad and let a small smile escape to her lips. "Thanks dad."

"Oh my goodness, just look at her," Misty heard uttered somewhere between dreams and consciousness. "Boy has she changed, why . . . if I didn't know any better I wouldn't even know it was her."

"Hurry up and open the door Lizzie," a second voice uttered in reply to the first, "she's certainly gotten heavier since the last time we did this, that's for sure."

The owner of the first voice giggled and lightly tapped the second on the shoulder then sighed sadly. "It seems a million years ago doesn't it and she still looks like such an angel."

"Who would have guessed she would turn out to be quite the tyrant?"

The two voices chuckled together at that one while Misty stirred in the arms of the second, slowly regaining consciousness.

"Where shall we put her?" the second voice asked as the door was swung open by Lizzie.

"Just put her on the couch for now while I get her room sorted," Lizzie replied as her footsteps moved away.

Misty finally awoke as she was placed on the couch.

"Where am I?" she asked hazily as she looked to her father, the owner of the second voice.

"You're home sweetheart," Leo replied with a soft, special smile reserved specially for his youngest daughter.

"I have to go tell Ash something," she suddenly exclaimed, still half asleep. She tried to jump to her feet, ready to rush out the door, but her lethargic body refused to obey her, and she fell tiredly back to her seat.

"It's too late now darling," he smiled, "you can go see him tomorrow when you're feeling more yourself."

"Tomorrow . . ." Misty muttered drowsily as she began to drift to sleep once more.

"Tomorrow," Leo repeated in agreement as he lifted her to her feet and led her back to her old bedroom.

~ to be continued ~

Clearly you are all shocked beyond recognition to see this story revived, although technically it isn't really revived as I'm about two or three chapters ahead of you, I'm just putting up what I've had sitting here on my computer and letting you all be the judge of whether or not I should have left it there. If I get lots of nice happy reviews I will share the rest of the ones hidden in my hard drive with you too.


	4. Next to Nothing

Disclaimer – I don't own it. But if I did just imagine how things would be . . .

Sweet Home Pallet – Next to Nothing

"Misty?" a tentative voice asked from her side, drawing her attention away from her own thoughts and feelings.

"Hmm," she replied as the wind whipped passively across the sand. She smiled from where she sat staring out into the ocean while her best friend propped himself up from what she assumed to be a peaceful slumber.

"Well it's just," Ash began nervously, digging his hands into the sand, "if we ever stop being friends, I just want you to know I'm sorry."

Misty turned and gave him her full attention, her soft gaze becoming pensive as it was moved from the sea to him. She caught herself before she said anything to spoil the moment, but that didn't stop the thought from nagging at the edge of her mine.

_'What if it's me?'_ she thought anxiously as she stared deep into his chocolate brown eyes.

"You know, just in case I never get the chance," he added, awkwardly putting his arm behind his head - a gesture that caused him to fall back to the ground almost as soon as the words left his mouth.

Misty couldn't help but giggle as she lay down beside him, restraining herself from kissing it better.

"I'm sorry," he finished as he turned on his side to face her, so that, once again, they were staring deeply into one another's eyes.

Misty smiled, as she did so trying desperately to convey and conceal her thoughts at the same time. Finally she gave up wrestling with her consciousness and did the unthinkable.

"Me too," she replied with an impish smile as she leaned forward and gently kissed his cheek only inches away from his lips.

"I . . ."

*

A sort of crash awoke her before her memories could be manipulated by her conscious mind. It was a nice memory, although in truth she hadn't been nearly as brave as she seemed to recreate in her dream, but other than that, it was exactly how it happened right down the last wind swept hair on his perfect little head. It almost put her in a forgiving mood, that is, it made her want to run into Ash's arms and beg for forgiveness. Only her pride was holding her back once again.

The memory gave her a lovely warm feeling that washed over her like the ocean. It was a feeling that she hadn't experienced in a while, in about seven years in fact. It felt warm, and soft and safe and comforting. It felt like lo . . .

CRASH!

That noise again, interrupting her before she had the chance to fully explore or construct the dangerous thoughts forming in her mind. She forced her eyes open against the blinding morning sun streaming through the open curtains and glared at the two figures smiling sheepishly as they tried to retrieve the offending noise maker from the ground.

"Mum!" she cried irritably. "Mrs. Ketchum! What the hell are you guys doing at this time of the morning? It's ungodly."

"We waited as long as we could," Elizabeth Waterflower replied as Delia smiled silently. "It's well past eleven o'clock, you know. Your father and I have been up for almost five hours now tending to things around the house."

"You still haven't answered my question," Misty replied sternly as she became more and more awake.

"Well you hardly gave me time to prepare did you, showing up from the 'chink' at some 'ungodly' hour," Elizabeth complained, her hands on her hips as she glared stubbornly at her daughter. "I mean, would it have been so difficult to give a 'heads up' and call me to let me know you were coming by. Don't they have phones in that awful concrete place?"

"It's called Emerald city mother," she explained sarcastically as she crawled out of bed, still clad in the clothes she arrived in. "And I called you from the 'clink' didn't I?"

"Well anyway," Elizabeth continued, "because of time constraints and the like, I didn't get the chance to clear your room, and now Delia and I need somewhere to do our midday work out before the Young and Restless."

"You converted my room into a gym?"

"Well yes, but if I'd known you were coming round I would've had it moved."

Misty sighed, "Just give me a second to get dressed and it's all yours." She did a quick search of the room then turned to her mother questioningly. "Where did you put my things?"

"What things?"

Misty sighed once again, this time far more aggravated. "It's in my car," she said agonisingly, "which is at Ash's, if he hasn't got it towed to some awkward holding lot south of the Orange Islands."

Delia smiled comfortingly as she walked over and took Misty by the hand. "I'll give you a lift dear, and maybe you and Ash can get this awful business sorted out once and for all. I'll be back in a bit Lizzie. Come Misty, I'll just grab my keys."

*

Misty smiled anxiously as she headed up Ash's drive way and towards Ash's house for the second time in the past twenty four hours. Her heart patted away nervously as Delia turned in and parked her petite looking Toyota Colt and turned off the engine. Her rented car, a royal blue Mazda sports car like the one she'd seen on Top Gear, with no obvious defects that were likely to affect the return of her deposit, stood ominously in the drive way.

It was a load off her shoulders, seeing her car right where she left it. But then, it didn't seem to quell the nervous tingly feeling or the stop her stomach from turning in on itself. After all, that wasn't what she was nervous about. Not even close.

She struggled as she tried to open the door. Her fingers felt like giant, numb sausage things as she tried to manipulate the latches and handles involved in the task. Her legs wobbled as she set them on the ground and took several slow steps towards the house that loomed before her. If Delia noticed, she was kind enough to pretend like she hadn't and pushed Misty onwards towards some fateful doom.

Misty shuffled slowly towards the door looking pleadingly towards Mrs. Ketchum. Delia paused for a second looking sympathetically at her honorary daughter before stepping purposefully up the stairs and knocking briskly on the front door.

The two waited patiently. The house was completely silent. Delia looked through the window for any sign of life, but the place seemed empty.

"I guess he's out," shrugged Delia as she looked back to Misty whose face portrayed a strange mixture of emotions – both disappointment and relief.

"But isn't that his truck?" Misty asked as she pointed a beaten up SUV sitting in the drive way.

"That thing?" Delia asked questioningly. "He hasn't used that in ages. Hmmm. I always thought he had Tuesday's off. Oh well," she added catching a glimpse of her watch. "I guess I better head back, the shows almost on."

"I thought you guys were exercising?" Misty smiled suspiciously.

"Oh, that too," Delia replied, looking sheepish once more. "You can get home on your own, can't you dear? Your mother's probably wondering where I am."

"I'll be fine," Misty told her as she watched Delia rush to her car. She sighed as she lowered herself onto the steps, slumping forward with her head in her hands as Delia drove away.

She felt . . . she wasn't sure how she felt. There were so many emotions swarming through her head that she could barely tie any of them down to one particular breed. All she knew was that none of them were good, at least not in the making her feel better kind of way. And that - as usual - they all had something to do with Ash.

Misty got up slowly, taking her time. She had to admit that there was a certain tranquillity to being in this place; in being so near to Ash. It was like his very essence was embedded in the walls and floors of the house, and it consumed her in old feelings long since buried but not at all forgotten.

As she walked to her car she suddenly noticed something not quite right about the machine. It was nothing immediately obvious, but there was a definite flaw in the copy. And as she realised how right she had been, that feeling of generosity – that desire to forgive and forget – was suddenly replaced by a new emotion; a new desire.

REVENGE.

~ to be continued ~

Everything I know about cars I learnt from Top Gear, and as great a show as it is, this essentially equates to nothing. I just felt like mentioning cars for no apparent reason and I always liked the colt cos it could play soccer.

Please review, especially as I'd like your opinion on a future chapter. True to the 'Sweet Home Alabama' plot, Misty is to get outrageously drunk and offend one of the minor male characters by insinuating that he's gay. My question is . . . should Misty kiss Ash in her drunken state or simply throw up on him? Opinions please. I'm kind of shying away from the kiss thing cos I did it in 'Reasons of the Heart', but I'm not really sure how her puking on him moves the plot along.

So yes, please tell me what you think and maybe I'll get the next chapter out real quick. I'm almost four chapters ahead of you (that and I've already written the last two chapters as well and half of the third to last), so I always feel a bit of a sense of dramatic irony whenever I put a new chapter up because of my inside knowledge.


	5. Black Holes and Revelations

I didn't mean to leave it so long before I put another upload up for this one. This is one of the many fics that I'm trying to put some effort in to complete - mostly because finishing this one is at least feasible. Technically I finished this quite some time ago as I did that thing I do sometimes where I write the beginning and end of a fic at the same time, but it's quite hard to get to that point, what with having to develop a relationship along the way.

Anyways, enjoy.

DISCLAIMER - I do not and will not ever own Pokemon or any of their characters, although a girl can dream . . .

Sweet Home Pallet – Black Holes and Revelations

Misty flew into an almost immediate frenzy. To think she had even been this close to forgiving him, for everything. She'd even considered telling him about things back in Emerald and how scared she had been at first wishing he was there to tell her it would all be alright.

She missed the way she used to be able to tell Ash everything. Now she couldn't even tell him that she was engaged . . .

How could she have been so stupid?!

It was typical Ash and quite frankly she should have known better. Right when she was ready to forgive him, he went and did god knows what to her car and replaced it with an almost perfect copy.

Almost perfect except that one flaw. And it was definitely a deliberate flaw, one that would go completely unnoticed by anyone else and he bloody well knew it; it was the kind of thing he knew Misty would spot and he was right.

It drove her crazy to think that he could still do this to her – that he could still make her so mad, and so happy, and so miserable all at the same time. It killed her that he still knew her so well and vice versa. It was as though nothing had changed and everything had at the exact same time.

And yet there was something about Ash . . .

He'd done exactly what she had thought he would do, only he'd done it smarter because now she was completely stranded at his house with no way home. This was obviously all part of some sick deluded plan of his to trap her there so he could have his wicked way with her . . . whatever that amounted to.

There was no one in this world who knew her quite like Ash did; no one who knew her better than Ash. He was her soul mate, at least, that what she used to think back in the old days. She was so sure he was 'the ONE', but nowadays she wasn't even sure what that meant anymore.

She should have known he would pull stunt like this, it was after all, very Ash Ketchum. He could have simply toed her car if he'd wanted to, but he didn't. Instead he chose to have an almost perfect replica of her car made with a very specific flaw intended for Misty to catch. If he'd simply toed her car she would never have let Delia leave, but Ash had gone one step further, almost as though he'd read her mind and thought maliciously to himself 'I'll show her'. Now she was left stranded in his drive, completely vulnerable to his every whim staring at a royal blue sports car that was supposed to be empire blue!

It was a difference of about two colour pigments at best; the sort of difference that almost nobody would notice unless they really chose to look. Such a distinction could only be made by one such as Misty who once boasted that she had the eyesight of a pidgey and could make distinctions of 20nm along the visible spectrum. It is now clear that she was not exaggerating.

She couldn't believe that he'd remembered that, and not in a good way. Misty was furious that he'd remembered – that he'd remembered this of all things! Some inconsequential, insignificant comment she'd made when she was thirteen he had chosen to remember and flaunt in her face like it meant something special; but some promise he had made in all seriousness off his own back knowing that it meant something to her, that he chose to forget. The most important promise he ever made to her just forgotten like it was nothing.

She couldn't believe him. Everything about him made her want to throw her head to the heavens and scream her head off right there and then in the middle of Ash's front drive, but instead she did the opposite. In a voice and manner that nobody would have believed coming from Misty and an eerie calmness, she turned to the car and kindly asked it to return to its natural from as there was no point pretending anymore.

Ditto was happy to oblige, after all, it was in its very nature to return to such a form when it had been found out. It watched Misty with concern almost certain that Misty herself was some kind of a duplicate. Ditto had known Misty in her prime, and it was not in _her_ nature to accept defeat quite so easily.

"Ditto," Misty added kindly, but with an inescapable edge to her voice, "do you know where my car is?"

"Master said . . ." Ditto began, but Misty cut it off.

"Do you know where Ash is?" she tried again, imploringly trying desperately to disguise the distaste in her voice at the mention of his name.

"Master said . . ." Ditto began again in its native tongue.

"Never mind," Misty cut in, the edge in her voice even more apparent. She really did hate it when some of his Pokemon called him that.

She sighed, looking to Ditto with a sad smile. "Do you know when he'll be home?"

Ditto thought to itself for a moment. Master had been very specific in his instructions. Under no circumstances was Ditto to tell Misty where he was, or where he had hidden her car, but he hadn't said anything about when he'd be home.

And, of course, he must have known that Misty would ask that next – he'd got all her other questions spot on so far. Therefore, he must have wanted Misty to know when he'd be home; otherwise he would have said something about it like 'don't tell Misty when I'll be home'.

It was a perfectly logical conclusion, and with a curvy, self satisfied smile, Ditto told Misty that Ash was due back at half past four this afternoon.

"Perfect," Misty replied with a tight smile. "Just bloody perfect," she muttered, glancing at her watch – perhaps the only item that hadn't been left in her car when Ash had her taken into custody the night before. It was now half past twelve meaning she had four lousy hours to wait until Ash got home and divulged the details of her cars location.

"He better not have done anything to jeopardise my deposit," Misty added, looking directly at Ditto who was attempting to slide away, out of her war path as though he would ensure the message got through to Ash. At this rate she wouldn't put anything past him.

"Fuck!" Misty swore blatantly at the heavens, unable to hold it in any longer. She ran her fingers through her hair and paced agitatedly as she tried to work out what on earth she was going to do for the next FOUR HOURS.

Ash was the only person who could do that to her, who could drive her into this insane rage. He was the only person who made her so completely furious that she felt like she was going to burst. He was so infuriating that it was all she could do to keep herself sane to contemplate ways of killing Ash that didn't end in jail time. Ironically, her best bet was probably insanity.

She and Patrick never fought. They hardly even disagreed on anything, and even if they did, Patrick tended to use all his political prowess and diplomacy to diffuse the situation before it even came close to a fight.

Whatever it was that they did have – because you certainly couldn't call it a fight by even Misty's lenient standards – Misty always ended up feeling as though she had lost when the whole thing was over. Even when she got her own way, she always felt as though she had compromised on something much bigger that was simply too important to be let go without a fight.

Something inside her missed fighting.

She missed feeling her blood rushing through her veins and her adrenaline pumping as though her body was readying itself for war. She missed how comfortable it felt to be fighting with Ash, how it made her feel alive and strong and righteous and self assured just like her old self. She missed being caught in that moment where things are happening so quickly that you don't even remember what you were fighting about to begin with. And even when she reached that point where whatever it was they were fighting about had lost all meaning, she could never let it go, at least, not before he did because she couldn't stand losing. She even missed that smug little look on his face when he was sure he'd won.

Once or twice during their relationship, Misty had tried starting a fight with Patrick, but it was too much effort and Patrick would never let it get that far. He would never take the bait, even on issues he was really passionate about like abortion, or the death penalty, and things that contradicted his political principles.

She tried to goad him once with an issue she knew to be very close to his heart. She told him that she believed all people are born good or bad from birth, knowing that he strongly opposed that argument. Misty's actual opinions on the subject tended to sit somewhere around the fence, but she just wanted to see if she could get a rise out of him and she knew if this didn't work, nothing else would.

Patrick's reaction was not what she had hoped.

He replied with a brief rhetoric about humanities infinite capacity for change that seemed to have been rehearsed straight out of some election piece, followed by a dissipating "but of course you are entitled to your own opinion dear, and maybe we're both right. Our knowledge of the human condition is constantly expanding and maybe one day we'll reach a conclusion."

Misty had never been left so unsatisfied in her life. According to Patrick's fine closing, it was a draw but Misty wasn't quite so convinced. She knew she had lost that one.

Perhaps that was why amongst all the anger and hatred and an almost unsettling desire for complete and utter vengeance, Misty was feeling just a twinge of excitement. She was really looking forward to giving Ash a piece of her mind . . . just as soon as he got there.

What choice did she have but to wait? Her house was about an hours walk from Ash's in the midday sun. And that was in tennis shoes and short shorts during a period where she was probably in the best physical shape of her life. Misty wasn't quite willing to consider what the journey might be like in a pair of black stiletto boots that she was only just starting to wear in.

She'd just have to find something else to amuse herself until Ash arrived.

For a few moments she reconsidered her hasty rejection of the idea of walking home, but she quickly dismissed that idea all over again as something better occurred to her – something that served dual purposes.

Misty raced up Ash's front steps and grabbed a piece of the broken plant pot left behind from the previous nights adventures. With the spare key removed from its previous location, Misty would have to do things properly, that is to say, if she wanted to enter, she was going to have to break something.

She paused while she considered the possibility of the place being alarmed but knew better. This was Pallet after all; who had an alarm in Pallet Town for god's sakes? If Ash hadn't been expecting her, he probably wouldn't have even locked the door on his way out. That's just how things were done in Pallet Town.

If there was, as improbable as it seems, an alarm Misty knew she was unlikely to find any difficulties there. Ash had been using the same four numbers as his bank password, safe code and bike lock since he was eight and his alarm code was unlikely to be anything different, that is, assuming that he'd managed to work out how to change it from the factory setting.

It didn't take long for Misty to get in. She smashed her piece of pottery through one of Ash's front windows, perhaps an unconventional choice for any would be felon, but Misty wasn't trying to be discrete. There were certainly windows that might have made getting in easier, but Misty choose this one knowing that it would be the first thing Ash would see when he got home from wherever it was he had disappeared to. The look on his face would be priceless.

As expected there was no alarm, unless it was one of those silent types, but Misty saw none of the usual indicators of an alarm in the place and reckoned she was safe. This meant she was able to get to work immediately rampaging Ash's house in search of her precious ring.

The place was surprisingly tidy given Ash's history. She wondered if Ash hired a maid or something, but decided instead that it was probably Delia tidying up after her son while he was out. It looked so comforting and friendly with photo's everywhere and Pokemon memorabilia everywhere. She was even in some of them.

After a moments strategising, Misty decided that the best place to start was the lounge rather than the bedroom, simply because she wanted to put off going through Ash's drawers for as long as possible even though it seemed the most likely place for the ring to be kept. The thought of it made her blush like a school girl.

On the other hand, it was the last place that she wanted Ash to catch her so she would have to schedule going through Ash's dresser somewhere in the middle of her search as a compromise.

For two long hours Misty went from room to room going through every shelf, draw, closet and box, emptying the contents onto the floor to no avail until she spotted an unfamiliar desk sitting in the entrance hall.

It was stained dark brown, almost black made in the style of a 19th century writing desk. It didn't seem to match anything else in the house or Ash's tastes and she wondered why she hadn't noticed it sooner. It had many drawers, some of which were locked and a rounded cover that slid down where writing materials would be kept. It seemed the perfect location for her ring.

She spent at least half an hour going through the desk when suddenly she came across something she knew she wasn't supposed to see.

~ to be continued ~

I had fully intended to continue but this seemed a very good place to finish for two very good reasons. Firstly, to continue would mean a very long chapter; and secondly, because it makes such an excellent cliff hanger. I did try to throw in a bit more action than usual, I realise there are a few bits in there that don't really move the thing forward, but they were so sweet I just couldn't do away with them.

So if you really want to know what Misty has found that she wasn't supposed to see, you're going to have review otherwise you'll just have to wait for god knows how long. Hopefully sooner rather than later - I really am trying, an only a month between updates is something.


	6. The Spaces Between

Here it is - _the letter. _Because I'm sure you've all just been hankering for this one. A very action packed chapter I think.

Now, as to a question I asked some time ago, the overall response seems to be leaning towards both, so I'm gonna try and push things in that direction. Now without further ado.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon. If I did Misty and Ash would be married by now - and I don't care if according to the show they're still only about 13 tops (Ash's voice hasn't seemed to have broken yet, so even that is probably pushing it) but people seem to grow up fast in their world.

Sweet Home Pallet - The Spaces Between

Ash smiled to himself as he drove down the road towards his house. He liked driving – it helped him to feel centred and at ease. Driving was one of those activities that required his whole concentration, which in turn gave him time to be away from his thoughts and just relax for once.

He couldn't believe that he had managed to finish so early, although a lot of that was to do with his feeling guilty about Misty. It meant he could take a nice leisurely drive home, thinking about nothing but the road ahead of him.

But she just kept sneaking in there.

He couldn't believe how good she looked. And she looked happy, sort of, but not in the same way she used to. Nothing was really the same as it used to be, and there was no reason why she should be any different.

But she was still Misty . . . and as a result of that inescapable fact, it still killed him to look at her, and be near her and not touch her.

And now it was the anticipation that was killing him. Because even though she had changed, he was pretty sure his feelings for her hadn't. He was still in love with Misty, he just wasn't really sure who that was anymore.

_'And there's really only one way to find out,'_ he said to himself as his mind wandered once again to the petite little red head seated on his porch.

And there he was, wrapped around her pretty little finger once again. And even though she wasn't much like his Misty, at least parts of her, he was falling for her all the same. Partly because she looked like his Misty (only cleaner and softer and shinier, and with more sharp, pointy edges), but mostly because in those few moments he could still see some of that old Misty spark shining through.

Of course, that spark had clearly dulled over the years, but when it was there it was as bright as the morning star.

He still loved that old Misty dearly. And if he wasn't so already so damn head over heals in love with the old Misty, he was pretty sure he could have fallen for the new Misty just as easily. It could have been love at first sight all over again, but there was only enough room for one Misty in any mans heart.

She didn't smell the same as the old Misty, but he loved the way she smelt. It seemed to linger in his kitchen, right where she had been sitting the night before. It was like peaches and honey mixed with something almost familiar that he couldn't quite put his finger on. That smell almost made him dizzy with longing.

She didn't bite her tongue when she was thinking like the old Misty, but she still bit her lip right before she said something she knew you wouldn't like. That was one of the things that gave her away, that told him that the old Misty was still in there somewhere. She still sent his heart racing when he thought about her.

He could picture her standing there waiting for him, balancing on her heals and twirling in circles. Although, he wasn't really sure if the new Misty balanced on her heals and twirled in circles, or if maybe that was a quality that was exclusive to the old Misty. It was really very confusing, and to be honest Ash had never been very good at making these sorts of comparison.

One thing he did know was that this Misty was impatient, and that was certainly not a quality that was exclusive to any Misty whatsoever. He was quite sure that any Misty who wasn't impatient could not be a Misty that he could love. The new Misty, however, did seem somewhat more restrained than the old Misty when it came to expressing her feelings of contempt, and Ash couldn't quite work out whether he liked that or not.

There were things about her he was sure could never be changed about Misty; things that she just wouldn't be Misty without. There could be no Misty without her curious and inquisitive nature, or her incessant logic. She just wouldn't be Misty without that soft, generous heart that she hid so well behind that tough exterior.

These were the things he loved the most about her, and without them she would still be Misty, just not his Misty. And he suspected that she was still kind and caring and curious and logical and everything he loved about her, only more subdued as if something inside was broken, and Ash wasn't really sure how to fix it.

And its not liked he'd stayed the same. Things about him had changed too. Parts of him had been broken – were still broken – and she was the only one who could fix them.

These were the thoughts that consumed our hero as he drove up his driveway and towards his house, so much so that he almost didn't notice the broken window until he was almost through the front door which hung wide open just in case he missed the window.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing as he dropped his bags on the floor with a loud 'THUMP'. Things were thrown everywhere, pictures askew, clothes all over the floor, cupboards and draws flung open. Nothing had been left untouched.

And there was Misty sitting on the floor, not even looking up at him to acknowledge his presence, so absorbed was she with whatever it was that had caught her attention.

"Honey I'm home," he muttered, awaiting her sardonic reply. "Well I guess I owe Brock $10," he added when no reply was forthcoming from the redhead.

At that she slowly turned her head to face him, shock evident on her face as she held a typed piece of paper gingerly in her hands. This was obviously not what she had planned.

She just looked between him and the piece of paper she held in her hands, her eyes wide, saying nothing. And as Ash looked back at her, it slowly dawned on him where she had been looking and what she had found in his desk.

"That was a private letter," he said coldly as he looked at what she was holding.

"Ash why are you doing this?" she asked, her eyes darting quietly between him and the letter, her mind not even registering the coolness in his voice. It just didn't make sense to her in any way.

"Doing what?"

She eyed him pointedly as she read the letter aloud, her voice increasing in pitch and volume as she headed for the climax. "Dear Mr. Ketchum. We have received your letter of resignation and kindly ask you to reconsider!" she cried, standing up abruptly and forcing the letter towards him. "Ash, how can you even think about resigning from the league?!"

He turned away, his eyes dropping to the ground as he refused to make eye contact with her or the offending letter. His heart was racing, and he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from telling her the truth. But the secret wasn't for her; it was for somebody else who she just looked like most of the time. Some girl he was in love with that she just reminded him of.

"Ash, why are you doing this?" she asked again, once apparent that the only reply she would be getting from Ash was silence. "I thought this was your dream. You can't just throw that away."

"You did," he responded bitterly, turning to walk way from him. He didn't need this right now. He needed . . . something else, someone else, anything but this.

"Maybe I'm not as strong as you Ash," she said, wincing inwardly at his harsh words. She knew he was right - she had given up - but she just hadn't been able to take it anymore. "This isn't you. You just can't turn your back on the life you choose to live."

"Whatever."

"Ash?" Misty asked pleadingly, trying to force him to stop and talk to her.

Ash turned suddenly, enraged by her sudden interest in him. "What right do you have to criticise how I choose to live my life?" he growled lowly, glaring at her. His eyes and voice were hard in a way that she had never seen before.

"You left Misty. You left us. And that means you don't get to tell me what to do anymore," he told her, taking a step towards her. "It's not like we're friends or something."

Misty let out a quiet gasp, taken aback. She grasped the letter tightly to her chest, looking down guiltily. She knew he was right, about everything. She just couldn't understand it.

"I'm sorry . . ." she stuttered quietly, her eyes glistening slightly with tears, "it's just . . . nothing is they way it used to be; too much has changed. I can't keep up.

"I guess I just always thought that not matter what happened, in spite of everything else, that you and I would always stay the same." She looked up into Ash's eyes. Part of her searched for the boy she remembered – the boy she loved. But he was so angry and cold that she almost didn't recognize him at all.

"Everything changes," Ash muttered in reply, his cold expression never changing. "Even me."

"I'm . . ." she began. but Ash cut her off.

Her eyes started to fill with tears, and for a moment Ash had to remind himself all over again that this was not 'his Misty'. This was not someone that he loved; she was just a shadow of that girl, albeit a rather convincing shadow. He had to mentally restrain himself from holding her and kissing away her tears, just as he always had, only for entirely different reasons.

"Don't Misty," Ash said coolly, cutting her off midsentence. "I don't want your apologies. Save them for someone who cares."

"Then just give me back my ring and I'll be gone for good," she replied, swallowing the sobs that caught in her throat, "you'll never see me again."

"What's so special about this ring anyway?" he asked knowingly, his smile almost cruel like a cat. "You planning to give it to that fiancé of yours?"

"You know about Patrick?" Misty gasped, suddenly feeling guilty. She felt as though she had betrayed him somehow and she couldn't work out why.

Ash scoffed at her response. "Of course I know, it's not like I live under a rock. We get E! down here too, you know." He looked at her for a moment and then added sadly, "I just can't believe you felt like you had to hide it from me."

She looked at him questioningly for a moment then thought the better of it. For a moment there was something in his eyes that made her think . . . no, it was nothing, just the glare of light. But for a moment . . .

She let out a soft sigh as she looked longingly at the pictures on the wall. "It's like you said Ash," she told him as she turned and straightened one of the pictures, carefully examining the details as though they weren't already implanted in her memory. She stared at the face she remembered - his warm smile and brown eyes full of excitement and hope for what the future promise, "we're not really friends anymore, are we?"

She blinked back the tears as she spoke so that Ash wouldn't see them, before quickly turning to him, her eyes hard and smile tight.

"The ring, Ash."

Ash looked at her for a long moment in concentration. Just for a moment there, he recognized something in her almost familiar, but now it was lost. And so was the moment.

He shook his head and smiled at her, returning the same hardness and tightness in his own expression. "I think I'll get back to you on that one," he told her, taking a step away from her and disengaging himself from the conversation, "prior engagement and all. Your car's round the back. Lock up on your way out, would you?"

And with that he was gone, and Misty was left once more screaming at the heavens.

~ to be continued ~

Well that was a nice chapter wasn't it?

I do wonder what you were all expecting after last chapters cliff hanger. Maybe an illegitimate love child? A marriage license to that awful Melody girl (although I usual write quite a friendly role for Mel, but there needs to be a necessary evil in these kind of things for the sake of he plot)? Or was it just too obvious that this was where it was going?

I suspect that it's the last one, what with most of you having already seen the movie, I'm sure you've got a fair idea of where this is heading. Of course, I have to tweak things a little in order to fit Ash and Misty's circumstances, but otherwise very much similar. Ironically, in the movie Melanie broke into his house to tidy it up, so I thought it was quite potent that Misty has torn the place apart.

Apologies for the long monologue - all that was simply for the sake of getting that line about being broken in there. That and I was worried the chapter was too short without it.

Anyway, review before you kill me with your neglect.


	7. All's Fair in Love and War

I always get annoyed with myself when I decide to work in multiple time periods like this, because then you have to come up with a different musical era to fit the different stages in their lives. In my mind, the pokekids have grown up in the 90's just because it was an era of such terrible music that it was memorable. Who can forget the spicegirls, ultra and nsync. I can't.

Somebody asked who Ash is in love with besides Misty and in this fic the answer is no one. This fic is a different situation than what I'm usually writing. It's not a question of do they fall in love - because they are and always have been - the question for each of them is whether the other is still the person they fell in love with. If you keep that in mind it will probably help with understanding some of the future chapters.

I'm pretty close to done! This is my project fic right now, and I want to finish writing it by the end of the month, although it may take me longer to get it all up on fanfiction.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon . . . but I know who does. BTW, Corona - I suspect they are currently working on some sort of viral marketing campaign and I only want to do my bit to help.

Sweet Home Pallet – All's Fair in Love and War

Misty glowered as her stiletto heel sunk into the wet gravel. She didn't remember it raining, but then again she had been rather distracted for the last few of hours. She felt positively guilt ridden over what she had said to Ash and what she had done to his house and everything that had passed between them. So much so that she had actually been compelled to tidy his entire house. And I mean tidy – not simply undoing the damage she had done but going a step further. The guilt alone had compelled her to take out a mop and bucket and to clean his floors, not to mention the job she did on his windows.

All this was intended to somehow ease her conscience and was at best ineffectual. In truth it just made her feel worse. At first all the cleaning sort of took her mind off things and that was good but then she felt so stupid about everything. And then she got really mad at herself for feeling stupid and guilty and actually started messing things back up a bit just to show him. That was even more futile so she soon got back to cleaning.

No matter what she did she felt terrible and so she did exactly what any normal person would do in that situation: she blamed Ash. She cleaned her way into a dreadful mood so that by the time she was finished (windows and all) it was dark and she was ten times as angry with Ash as she had been to begin with.

Which I think brings us just about back to where we started. She had stopped at her parents on her way from Ash's just to drop her things in and change her clothes. Wearing a pair of skinny blue jeans and a black satin singlet with lace trim, she felt a little less conspicuous then when she first arrived. She carefully 'unstuck' her heel form the quicksand forming around it and slowly made her way towards the faded sounds of 'Livin' on a Prayer' playing form inside the local tavern.

Pallet was exactly the same place as she had left all those years ago. She guessed it was slightly more touristy than it used to be, what with it being the home of _the_ Ash Ketchum, but otherwise nothing had changed. There was still only one place he could be, a remnant of an ill spent youth playing video games and annoying staff by constantly requesting Barenaked Ladies on the jukebox.

The last bars of the song faded out, and as if by divine intervention a new one – ever so familiar – took its place.

_It's been, one week since you looked at me . . ._

"I guess that means he's here," she muttered to herself as she got closer to the tavern (although that clearly wasn't the right word for it).

But she stopped for a moment as another familiar song trilled in breaking her from whatever reverie she had begun to slip into. That is, the familiar shrill of her ringtone.

"Hello," she answered sharply, annoyed at the phone and whoever was on the other end for dragging her away from what lay ahead of her.

"Hi honey," he replied, oblivious as ever. She hated how Patrick always seemed to be of a moderate disposition. It was never really over-the-top out of your mind happy or 'I'll never leave my bed again' depressed. It did tend towards the cheerful and self-satisfied and optimistic rather than cynical and bad tempered, but it just struck her that everything about him was middle ground.

She guessed that sort of made him perfect for politics. He was intelligent but not clever. Inventive, but not innovative. Handsome, but not striking; well-spoken but not eloquent.

Patrick was a blank slate allowing the public to project their ideals onto him with ease and conviction. Or rather he was a grey slate, open for others to interpret to their own particular shade.

"Kasumi, my love," he added questioningly after she didn't reply, "am I interrupting something?"

"Oh no sorry," she replied forcing a smile into her voice, "I guess I'm just a little tense about being back home. Lots of people to catch up with," she added hoping he would get the hint somehow that she wasn't really in a talking mood . . . at least not to him.

"Well then darling, I'll only be a minute," he replied soothingly. "I tried to call you last night but I just kept getting your voicemail."

"I turned it off," she said sheepishly, and then continued when she realized that she'd used the wrong lie, "I mean, the sound . . . so I could get some sleep?"

"Of course, of course dear," Patrick nodded, seeming to accept her lame excuse. She couldn't possibly tell him that her cell phone had been left with the rest of her things, in her car at Ash's place when she was carted off to the police station the night before. It might raise some awkward questions and she couldn't stand it when Patrick got into adversarial mode.

"I'm actually calling with some good news," he continued, "I'm sure you've probably already heard, but the critics loved your show and I just wanted to be the first to congratulate you."

"That's excellent news," Misty replied with a sigh of relief. For a moment there she was worried he might bring up their engagement and pending nuptials, but this really was good news. It even gave her something to think about that wasn't Ash, which was also excellent.

"Now that that's said," he added, "how are things . . ."

Misty quickly cut him off midsentence feigning some request from her mother. "I have to go," she said, talking quickly so as to leave him no room to interject, "I'll talk to you latter, k? Bye." And she hung up without waiting for his reply.

"At least something's going right," she said quietly as she resumed her steps towards Pallet's 'Seaside Inn' one of the oldest establishments in Kanto, a place for young and old, and the setting of a long awaited reunion.

* * *

Ash leaned impatiently against the bar, staring anxiously at the door. She should have been there by now; in fact she should have been there hours ago. Even if she had gone to every other place he could possibly be first she still should have been here by now.

_'Maybe she just doesn't care,'_ he thought sadly to himself. But it couldn't be true. Misty would never let something go, not without a fight, not his Misty. But maybe that was the point – she wasn't _his_ Misty anymore.

"Hey Ashy," Gary Oak greeted taking the seat next to Ash and gesturing to the barman. "What are you looking a . . ." he began but trailed off as he and Ash spotted her at the exact same time.

Ash's heartbeat raced and Gary let out a low whistle.

"Well would you look at that," Gary said as he eyed the girl standing in the door searching round the bar. He raised his glass in appreciation, a toast to the beautiful girl that just walked in. "You don't see a girl like that in Pallet everyday. She is gorgeous. Why if I didn't know any better, I'd say . . ."

"It is and you don't," Brock said, rolling his eyes and cutting off Gary. "Well," Brock added, completely ignoring Gary now and turning to Ash, "what are you going to do?"

"Nothing," Ash sighed as Misty locked eyes with him for a moment and then proceeded to walk to the opposite side of the bar, stubborn as always. "If you love something you let it go."

"Ash you let her go 7 years ago, and if you hadn't noticed it was the biggest mistake of your life," Brock told him in an almost fatherly manner. "You've turned your whole world upside down for her and now you're just going to let her go all over again?"

"What else am I supposed to do Brock?" Ash replied with a sigh, watching her across the room. "She's engaged - she has a fiancé and a fashion line and just this whole other life that doesn't involve me. The whole world loves her now – how can I compete with that?"

"You forget about everything else and you fight for her with every fibre in your being," Brock answered seriously.

Ash sighed again. "But what if I lose?"

"Then you lose big time – she leaves and it will probably hurt even worse that the first time," he said, "but what if there was a chance you could make her stay – no matter how small? Wouldn't you want to take it?"

"If I lose her I lose everything."

"I know," Brock said sincerely, "but the universe isn't really that big on third chances."

"Well this is all getting little to sentimental for me," Gary interrupted, completely ruining the lovely close moment between the two friends, "I think I'll just leave you two to your little yaoi lovefest and make my way over to Misty and see if she's interested in a ride out of this place."

"No you're not," Brock told him, pushing the ginger idjit back onto his stool. "You're staying there, I'm going to talk to Misty, and 'Ashy'," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes once again at Gary, "is going to take a few moments to think about life generally, and Misty in particular."

* * *

Part of Misty somehow foresaw that this night would not end well and so she immediately got a head start by ordering herself a drink. "Cosmopolitian," she ordered from the barman who stared at her blankly in response. "Contrau and Cranberry juice," she explained helpfully but the blank stare didn't lift.

"Triple Sec?" she asked hopefully, but there was no change. She sighed exasperatedly and ordered what had been her drink of choice many years ago, it being cheap and readily available to under-aged drinkers through means, which shall not be mentioned here.

"Rum and Coke," she sighed which the barman seemed to understand and went to fetch. He didn't even serve it with a straw and Misty was immediately reminded of how far away she was from civilization.

"Cheers," she muttered to no one in particular as she sculled her drink and ordered another.

"Well Misty, just look at you," a voice said, coming up beside her.

Misty stared at the owner of the voice. "Well look at you . . ." she began awkwardly trying to rack her mind for the reasons why this person seemed so familiar. "Jesse?" she asked suddenly quite shocked as she realized who it was she was looking at.

None of the tell tale signs of the Jesse Misty used to know were there. Her hair, which had once been long, pink and seeming immune to the law of gravity was now cropped short to shoulder length and burgundy brown. She wore a simple cherry coloured, flowery summer dress under a cream cardigan with a pair of black boots – perhaps a vestige of her previous life – and greeted Misty with a wide warm smile, painted bright red just like Misty remembered. She looked like somebody else who just happened to have Jesse's face.

"Jesse Hubris . . . you look so . . . different," Misty said, almost flabbergasted by the change of her childhood adversary.

Jesse shook her head and held up her hand. "Jesse Femmesse," she corrected indicating the wedding ring.

"So you and James tied the knot," Misty replied with approval. "When did this happen?"

Jesse smiled. "About five years ago," she replied. "We tried to invite you to the wedding but nobody seemed to know how to get hold of you. Not even Ash. But now you're back he's going to be so happy. You wouldn't believe what he's done for . . ."

"Jesse," Brock interjected loudly cutting in before Jesse could finish that thought and quickly indicating to Jesse that they were keeping some details under wraps for now, before Misty looked in his direction. "Stop hogging the new girl. You know you're not the only one she hasn't seen in 7 years."

"Brock!" Misty cried happily, wrapping her arms around her older travelling companion. "I'm so glad to see you," she continued smiling up at her old friend. "I've missed your stew."

Brock laughed in reply. "I could always send you a couple of vats," he replied, "but I'm not sure how well it would last through a deep freeze."

Misty let out a sort of giggle in reply, but it was clearly half-hearted and distracted as she stared at something over his shoulder. Brock turned to see what she was staring at and let out a tough sigh of annoyance. There was Ash with bloody May of all people, letting her drape herself all over him.

It was clearly a show for Misty's benefit. Ash and May barely talked these days – they just didn't have that much in common now that they were all done journeying. And it was clear that Ash hadn't taken any of his advice seriously, or if he had, he had clearly misunderstood what he was telling him to do.

"He really is happy to see you," Brock said comfortingly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

It wasn't much use. She hardened her jaw and turned around, turning the conversation over to Jesse. "So aside from getting married and becoming sheriff of all things," she said with a smile as she ordered another drink, "what have you and James been up to?"

"Well . . ." she began, but was quickly cut off by the barman calling her name and handing her a package of food. "Oh Misty," Jesse said, wrapping the younger girl in a hug, "I so wanted to stay and catch up but Edmund and Callie are waiting in the car. But you could come see me tomorrow?" she offered with a smile to which Misty gave a nod.

"Great. Brock will give you my address," she said as she hurried out the door. "It's the one with the blue roof and the pink door, you can't miss it.

"Ash," she yelled quickly across the room, sneaking back in for just a moment. "I'm telling your mother."

The whole tavern cheered and Ash blushed bright red. May had seemingly disappeared, which Misty thought was strange but paid no real attention to, after all, she was on to her third rum and coke and starting to feel pleasantly numb as she ordered her fourth.

But Ash noticed, of course, because he was suddenly very aware of the fact that Misty was looking at him once again and that he no longer had May around to deflect her attention. And as he watched her across the room he felt a sad pang.

Misty was happy, at least as far as he could tell, and no matter what anyone said to him, he could see no role for him to play in her future happiness.

~ to be continued ~

I had to come up with a last name for Jesse because I couldn't find it and I don't even remember where I got Femesse from (though I suspect it was somebody else's fic) but I figured that if Femesse sort of was a description of James' key personality traits then I should follow suit. Jesse is a very vain character so it seemed only right to use hubris (which means arrogance pretty much, although its a touch archaic).

This chapter was a bit longer than I intended, mostly because I realized that there are a lot of angsty speals in here with very little action so I wanted to move the plot forward a bit more before I ended the chapter. I actually wanted to end with that line about 'third chances' and then had to use Gary and his 'yaoi lovefest' to transition (which I thought was somewhat ironic given the amount of fics you see out there with Gary's unrequited love for Ash). I think I made Brock slightly rude to Gary but we'll just call it a plot device. I apologize to anyone who likes Gary because I intend to use him in much the same way in the next chapter which I think moves things along a bit more.

I was going to take the opportunity here to ask everybody what I should do with Ash (in parallel to Jake's glass business) but I came up with something all on my own which I think fits very perfectly in a very dramatic and meaningful way. All the same, if you did have an idea of what I should do at this point I guess you can still tell me it, although my one is pretty good.

Right, so I'll shut up here except that in case you were confused by my subtlety a nickname for Edmund (which means protector) is NED and Callie (meaning beautiful) is a variation on the name KELLY. If you are still confused google it . . . and REVIEW.


	8. Long Kiss Goodnight

I totally just wrote like what I suspect is the second to last chapter of this story - go me! Don't worry, I'm waaaaay ahead of you guys so there is heaps to go. Because of bloody Ketchum down there I had to make some changes to my original formulation of things, but I think in the end the story is better for it (although there's still some time before that comes up). I always know when I truly am about to complete a fic because that's when I suddenly get about a million new idea's for stories e.g. Brock: A Short History which I spent about two weeks writing when I really should have been spending time on this, or alternatively my 10,000 word research project, and The Show Must Go On which is something I've started writing which is based somewhat in the Sinnoh timeline and thus features one of the Misty clones in a friendly role (part of me accepts Dawn because by my calculations she's too young to be a threat, although I do find it creepy that Brock is traveling with them because I'd give his age at about 18 by now, and she is 10 isn't she? Also, I suspect that they're gearing up to axe Ash and replace him with Dawn anyway and that actually leads to the final story idea I've been working on which is one of those Ash's final journey one's because if they are gonna axe him, the only reasonable way they can do it is by making him league champion in Kanto and then bogging him down with administerial duties which prevent him from journeying in the usual manner).

So with all my blabbering on done. Go and read this. And then when you're done reading it, review it! Wish me luck on my research project, and if you ask really nicely I might even enlighten you to the long boring details of it.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon. I'm not really sure who own Pokemon in particular, all I really know is that it ain't me. Satoshi Tajir (is that the right spelling?) is a good candidate, but at this point in time I hardly doubt he owns all of it.

Sweet Home Pallet – Long Kiss Goodnight

It was well past midnight. Most of the other patrons had left and the bar staff were starting to get testy, especially after listening to 'One Week' for the eighth time that evening (or morning).

"I miss you all so much," Misty cooed drunkenly to everyone around her, even Ash who sat sulkily on his bar stool watching her with a protective gaze as she dangerously wielded the pool cue round to emphasise her words.

"Would you just hurry up and take the shot Misty?" he said trying to sound nonchalant and not the least bit anxious over her personal safety.

"Ok, ok," Misty replied holding one hand out flat as if to appease him, "I just want to say one little itty-bitty thing." She paused as everyone waited for her to continue.

(A/N: I seem to have modelled my drunken Misty on Queen Elizabeth from Blackadder the Second – you should all go out immediately and watch the episode where they all get drunk (coincidentally entitled 'Beer') because its really extremely funny and you'll understand what I mean)

"I just wanted to say that . . ." she paused again, as though for a dramatic effect, but for much longer than was necessary. "To say that I miss you all very much. There isn't anywhere like this_ there_ and sometimes I wish I didn't have to go back there at all."

"Well you could always stay," Tracey replied laughingly from across the pool table. He too was a tad tipsy and knew not what he did.

"Tracey, you take that back," she cried snappily, her cheeks going slightly red although it wasn't particularly noticeable, her cheeks already being red with the warmth of five rum and cokes, two yagerbombs, one shot of tequila with Tabasco sauce, a 'flaming f***ing smurf' and two beers.

"You take that back," she continued, her voice taking on a sinister tone, "or I'll tell everybody your secret."

"What secret?" Tracey asked, genuinely confused.

"Oh c'mon Tracey," she said exasperatedly, gesturing wildly. "You know what the secret is and if I went and told you right now it would be secret anymore, would it Tracey? Tracey's so stupid sometimes," she finished with a slight lisp, not to anyone in particular but turning around the room for confirmation.

"Woah."

She tumbled forward, dizzy from her spinning, but luckily Ash had been watching her and carefully caught her in his arms and lowered her into a nearby seat.

"I guess that means it's about time we called it a night," Brock suggested soberly looking at Misty who seemed utterly oblivious. "Somebody's going to have to get her out of here."

"Bags not," Ash said quickly, childishly putting his thumb to his forehead.

Brock gave him a stern look in response. " Really Ash?" he asked. "Given that you clearly played a hand in getting her to this state, don't you think you should take responsibility for her?"

"What did I do?" Ash asked defensively.

"Well there was that thing with May, and the business at the house, and arresting her and what not," Brock began, "but mostly it was the part where you challenged her to scull two beer mugs in two minutes."

"Aw c'mon guys," he whined, "don't you think I've had to go through enough with her today? She completely trashed my house and . . . you know . . . it's Misty . . ." he finished pathetically.

Nobody stirred and Brock just gave him a very hard stare in response.

"What about you Tracey?" Ash suggested futilely. "Couldn't you do it? I mean, I know she gets a bit mouthy sometimes but you guys are friends."

"Perhaps," Tracey replied tipsily, "but I for one do not find that mouthiness nearly as charming or attractive a you do." He sighed and muttered to himself, "for two people so in love, you shure are reluctant to spend to some time together."

"Fine. Fine," Ash sighed turning instead to Brock with damp eyes. "Well, Brock-o, you couldn't just . . ."

Brock quickly cut him off with a stern shake of his head. "I'm staying out of this. Wife's orders."

"But your wife's not even here," Ash retorted sullenly.

"I know," Brock replied, "it's creepy isn't it? I mean, I'm always trying to tell her that but she just won't . . . hold on a sec . . ." Brock pauses briefly in deep concentration. "Sabrina says 'hi' and that if anybody else tries to take Misty home she will melt their brain with her mind and don't think she can't do it. Anything else honey," Brock muttered tightly narrowing his eyes somewhat. "Fine, I'll be home soon."

"Brock if this is some ploy of yours to creep me out sufficiently so that I'll volunteer it's not going to work" he replied proudly.

"I'll do it," the ginger in the corner offered which was met with glares all around.

"Fine I'll take her home," Ash said resignedly shuddering at the thought of Gary Oak taking her home, "but I'm taking her car. That way if she feels the need to barf its her upholstery and not mine this time."

"Point taken," Brock replied, handing Ash Misty's purse, which contained the keys to the aforementioned rental car, "But you can't take her home, at least, not to her house."

"Why not?" Ash asked in reply as he was kindly handed Misty by one of his fellow patrons. "She's old enough to face the consequences of her actions. It's not like they're gonna ground her."

"Ash you know you can't take her home," Brock replied seriously giving Ash a stern 'you know what I'm talking about' look. "If her sisters got wind of this she'd never hear the end of it."

"Or worse," Tracey piped in panicking slightly, "what if the media find out? This would not be good her image. I mean her fiancé," Tracey continued which caused Ash to wince as if struck by a hot poker, "is campaigning for a alcohol ban in Emerald Square Gardens. They'd be on this like white on rice – although I've never really been shure what that meant."

"Ok, I get it," Ash muttered resentfully, scowling at his two friends' triumphant looks. "But where the hell do you expect me to take her?"

"She can stay at my place," Gary Oak helpfully interjected with a skeezy smile.

"She's staying at mine," Ash replied quickly and coldly, glaring at his childhood rival. And with that, and a not insignificant exertion of effort, he was leading a stumbling, comatose Misty out the door and bid adieu to his fellow patrons.

* * *

Misty sighed softly in the seat next to him as they pulled up to Ash's house. "How many times must I drive up to your house before it finally sinks in?" she murmured drunkenly. Her eyes seemed to rove over the landscape, slowly taking everything in as if for the first time. She squinted at the dizzying light of the stars and glared belligerently at the moon.

"I don't know," he replied softly as he unclipped his seat belt and opened the door.

"I do," he heard her say quietly as he slipped around the car and opened her door. He leaned over her to unclip her belt, and he felt her arm go around his shoulder, from habit he assumed.

"What do you know?" he said, his tone indecipherable. There was both a question and smile in his tone, and even if Misty had been sober, she wouldn't have known what to think.

"I know," she said, raising her head proudly. "I know that you are my best friend and that I'm yours," she said, smiling the blissful smile of someone sober enough to articulate their thoughts, but drunk enough not to censor them. She was also just sober enough to realise her articulateness was something to be proud of.

"I thought you hated me, Myst," Ash replied with a slight snigger, looking up at her with a smile as he removed her heels. All of this he did almost from memory, because when she let her guard down like this, she was exactly the girl he remembered.

Misty gave him a drunken, crocked smile in return. "How can you hate the devil when he looks like such an angel?" she asked as she pushed herself out of the car and drunkenly stumbled back a step.

"So I'm an angel now, am I?" he asked, catching her mid-wobble and lowering her back into her seat so he could take her other shoe off. If she had known any better, she would be very grateful to him for doing so.

"My guardian angel," she replied, stopping to look into his eyes with a painfully meaningful look.

Ash coughed feeling awkward. It was the closest he had ever been to her since her return. She was so vulnerable and so innocent.

"C'mon Msyt," he said, blushing as he looked away from him. "Time for you to sober up and contribute."

"Up you get," he added cheerfully, as though talking to a small child, as he lifted her out of the car and gently lowered her feet to the ground so she was standing vertical. He gave her a few moments to find her footing before carefully guiding her in the right direction.

"I miss this," Misty sighed with a happy drunken glow as he leaned into Ash's strong, solid frame.

Ash let out a feeble 'pfft' at her expression of nostalgia. Misty had been missing a lot of things since her first beer, and even more since the second.

"You miss me hauling your drunken arse home to my place so you can crash on my couch?" he asked somewhat ironically.

"No not this. This," she explained with the certainty of those who have their logic fuelled by alcoholism. "I miss this," she said again, this time more urgently gazing up at him meaningfully.

Ash refused to meet her gaze but he understood. "I miss us too," he said quietly, sure she didn't even hear him.

"At first I missed you all the time," Misty continued as if he hadn't said anything, as though he wasn't even there, "and then I only missed you most of the time. But now I only miss you at night because I can't get used to falling asleep without you next to me."

Ash was stupefied, his mouth hanging open in shock and freezing midstep. He had no idea what to say. Like many times before he was struck by how eloquent Misty could be when she was completely sloshed. But mostly he was shocked by her words.

He had no idea what she meant by them, except that something deep down told him that he felt exactly the same way. He still felt like he was missing her all the time – especially at night. Even when she was standing right next to him, he missed their closeness and everything that went with that.

"You don't understand," she said sadly, misinterpreting his silence.

"Misty of course I . . ." he began, but Misty cut off his protests, stepping unsteadily out of his arms.

"You don't. Not even close," she told him. "You let me go."

"Misty I –" he began, because now he really didn't understand.

"Why didn't you call me?" she said suddenly, her blue green eyes locked on his. She looked sad as she spoke to him, as though the very thought of their years apart was making her miserable.

"I . . . I didn't have your number," he said awkwardly, feeling ashamed even though he was sure he had nothing to be ashamed of.

"No, not like that," she explained, her eyes darkening a little as she struggled to say it right. "Why didn't you call me back? Why didn't you stop me?"

"I . . ." he started looking sorrowful. "I couldn't."

"No, that's not it," she said angrily, stepping out of his grasp and turning to face him angrily. "You could of, if you wanted to, but you didn't."

"Misty . . ." he tried reaching towards her, but she cut him off.

"You didn't even protest," she cried, her voice heavy with anguish. She glared at him as her eyes filled with tears, her emotions drunkenly rising to the surface. "Like you didn't even care."

"Of course I cared Misty," he replied. It was evident in both his eyes and his voice that he was hurt by her accusation. He took a step towards her, so the two of them were standing as close as they possibly could. "It's because I care for you that I had to let you go. This was your dream and I didn't want to be the one to stop you.

"So instead I just sat around spending every day of my life just missing you and wishing I didn't; wishing that I hadn't let you go," he muttered, looking down at the ground rather than meeting her eye. "You were my best friend, and you were gone. And it was only then I realized that I had lost the most important thing in my life."

He looked up slowly, his eyes meeting hers finally. He took a deep breath. This could be his only chance to say it, and something in her eyes seemed to urge him on.

She leaned in closer to him, her eyes completely unreadable. The look in her eyes was indescribable, and as her face moved ever closer towards his he just didn't know what to think.

"Misty, I . . ." he breathed softly, but she cut him off like only Misty could . . . with projectile vomit.

He sighed, as he looked down at their vomit smeared clothes. He should have known better; it was all too good to be true. The night was too clear. The stars were too bright. And Misty was too beautiful.

"C'mon," he sighed, wrapping his arm around her once again, and leading her to the house. She was always so docile at this stage in her drinking. "Time to sleep it off."

He led her slowly to his room, it being the nearest thing to drop her down on. She didn't move an inch as he put her down, and carefully removed her shirt, trying his best to maintain her modesty by only looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"Stay," he told her sullenly as he walked out of the room to go and put both their shirts in the wash. As he walked back into the room he found Misty essentially where he had left her, only curled up asleep in his bed with the remainder of her clothes (well, her jeans really) lying on the floor.

"Oh great," he muttered to himself suddenly feeling greatly injured. "I don't care what she thinks," he said as he pulled up the covers on his side of the bed and slipped in between the sheets, "this is my house and I am NOT sleeping on the couch. That's for sure."

He sighed as he turned on his side to face her. This was it. This was heaven. This was exactly how he remembered falling in love with her.

Her hair was fanned softly around her face like a halo. Her lashes lay softly on her cheeks. And a small smile pulled at her soft pink lips.

Everything had changed, but in that moment it felt like nothing had.

He leaned forward slightly; pressing his lips softly against her forehead, and took a deep breath, inhaling her scent.

"Goodnight Misty," he whispered softly, watching her for a reaction. And then he closed his eyes.

~ to be continued ~

For those of you who are not as well versed in alcohol as I am (I used to be a bartender not an alcoholic) a yagerbomb is a shot of yagermeister in redbull (search it on youtube to see some very cool bar tricks), a 'flaming f***ing smurf' is blue curacau and sambuca layered in a shot glass and set alight, and tequila and tobasco sauce is really the best way to drink tequila (better than lemons and salt). If you don't know what a rum and coke is then you're probably too young to be reading this story anyway so we'll just leave it at that. What all this really amounts to is one hell of a hangover the next day.

And there you are, you all got your kiss and your vomit, although I'm sure it wasn't what you expected. Misty has got to be the most eloquent drunk that I have ever seen (written/read) in my life but let's all just call it a plot device. Same about the spew - it seemed a little too much to try and get the two of them into bed together the good old fashioned way, especially if I want to keep my rating which is on pretty shaky ground as in given mine and Misty's foul mouths.

So yeah, you should all like totally like review or like something or like yeah. I've been writing scenes with Misty's sisters so my vocabulary is slightly impaired.

All discrepancies between reviews and hits I will attribute to you being too busy watching clips of people doing awesome things with alcohol on youtube. If you don't want me making such assumptions about your habits/morality/interests/general temperament then you're just gonna have to review, aren't ya?

P. S. Do you want an epilogue for this story?


	9. Does Your Conscience Bother You?

Surprised aren't you? I was going to hold this chapter hostage until the reviews got to 50, but I'm so pleased with myself for completion that I couldn't just hold onto it like a bitch.

A few words: **swimming toon lover**, I'm so glad you feel the same because it makes me feel less paranoid. The way that she's sort of encroaching on territory which was Ash only in all the previous seasons and the more active role she's gotten than past sidekicks makes it kind of obvious (for example, none of the other sidekicks ever had friends outside of Ash). Although, it doesn't really upset me too much as if he does get axed because that just means that he can go back to Kanto and be with Misty forever before that bastard Tracey goes and moves in on his woman (which totally won't happen anyway because Tracey is totally gay, hello? isn't it obvious by the way he was checking out Rudy? Just me?). It's a silver lining. Also if Ash is out and Dawn is in then they can't be together thus defeating anyone who prefers this ship to Ash and Misty. Extra silver lining. All paths lead to AAMR.

**pikagurl23 **I'm gonna leave the epilogue or not to epilogue question up in the air for now. What it's going to depend on is what you all think when you read the final chapter. If you're not left with a sense of closure then I have an idea for an epilogue if it's necessary, but I'm hoping that the final chapter will give a nice sense of closure and finality that you won't need the epilogue. Just keep it in mind when you finally get there.

Apparently everybody loved drunken Misty so I'm quite pleased with that. Not really sure how much she's gonna remember of her previous evening, but we'll see. So on with the story.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon, but if anyone who does own it is reading this, I've got a totally awesome idea for the final Ash season if you want to hear it. It's totally cool and ends in an AAML, although, how well it works really depends on how well your timeline matches mine. I places Ash at about 15 by the end of Sinnoh (by calculating each league at roughly a year (only half for Orange but the rest make up for it)) and the story doesn't really work if you still expect us to believe that he's ten years old. Ask me about it Nintendo peoples - I'm willing to give up all rights of claim just to see it become a reality.

Sweet Home Pallet – Does You Conscience Bother You?

Misty's lids fluttered softly as she felt the warm sun on her face. She snuggled into the warmth of her bed, refusing to meet consciousness. She could feel a migraine coming on and she wondered what she had done to deserve it.

She sighed, feeling perfectly content for possibly the first time in seven years. She imagined that she could feel Ash next to her, invaded by his scent, and decided that this was certainly the best dream ever.

Only, as pulled herself even closer to the warm, hard and very real body next to her, it suddenly occurred to her, that her imagination was never _that _good.

Her eyes shot open and she gasped as she found herself looking up at Ash's handsome face. He was fast asleep, with his arms wrapped tightly around Misty. Of course for Misty this wasn't even the worst of it, because she quickly noticed that she was wearing very little clothing – in fact merely her bra and matching panties.

_'Oh shit,'_ she thought to herself. She desperately tried to remember why she was not wearing anything other than underwear. She had a terrible sense of dread as though she had done something last night, or said something, or almost done something she probably should not have done.

She carefully started trying to remove herself form Ash's grip, but as soon as she tried to move away from him, he would mumble something in his sleep and tighten his grasp. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

_'There's more than one way out of his arms,'_ Misty thought to herself reassuringly. _'If only I could stop thinking about how nice it is, just long enough to remember what that way was.'_

She carefully slid her body down the bed, trying an alternative route. She was tempted to try a little 'Indian Jones' type action and replace herself with a pillow, but she was really hoping that would not be necessary.

"Right," she said quietly to herself as she slid herself out of the bed ignoring both dizziness and headaches. "Clothes."

She searched left and right and she could not spot a single item of clothing that looked like it belonged to her. This surely wasn't helped by the fact that she couldn't actually remember what she had worn the previous evening.

"Shit," she said aloud as she wondered what the hell she was going to do. For a second she thought she could wear something of Ash's but as she looked at his beautiful six foot two figure she highly doubted it. She almost seemed to shrink when she was next to him and she felt small in the most wonderful way, which was completely irrelevant to her current situation.

She looked through his closet desperately, hoping there was something she could use. Maybe she could take one of his dress shirts and wear it as a dress – the garment of shame would tell all.

She spotted something at the back of the closet – a very familiar outfit. She must have been about the same size as Ash was during his journey. Obviously she was taller, and his build was always a bit stockier, but it was the only option she had.

Ash watched her with a smile on his face as she pulled on a very old pair of his jeans, a black t-shirt and a denim short-sleeved jacket. The jeans were a bit too wide for her and clearly too short, and the jacket and t-shirt didn't cling to her nearly as much as he would have liked, but he couldn't deny that she looked absolutely adorable.

Misty didn't dare to look at herself in the mirror. She struggled to remember the way out of Ash's bedroom and almost tripped over the bed as she left.

"Shit," she whispered again, worried that she may have woken Ash. He let out a reassuring snore, and she let out a breath she hadn't known that she was holding.

She snuck quietly out of the rest of the house, cringing once again as the door squeaked on its hinges. As she got to the gravel, she wondered what she had done with her shoes, but decided it wasn't worth going back. Her feet crunched painfully against the gravel, and she wished that they would make less noise.

"Forgetting something?" a deep masculine voice called from behind her as she reached towards the car door.

_'Car keys!'_ she thought to herself in horror as she whispered another low "shit."

She turned slowly and smiled sheepishly at Ash who stood on the steps. He walked towards her in only a few long steps. It was torture for Misty.

She felt even more confused and anguished, when instead of holding her keys just out of her reach, he plopped a red and white Pokémon league hat on her head.

"Now you're complete," Ash said simply, with a lopsided smile. He took a step back so that he could get a better a look at her, and seemed happy with his work.

"You threw up on your shirt," Ash explained, "so I washed it. And your jeans were on the floor if you had looked a little harder. Nothing happened, before you go and get any ideas."

"Oh," Misty said quietly.

"I just put your shirt on the line," he added awkwardly. "If you want to take a walk or something, it will be dry by the time we get back and then you can get back into your own clothes."

Misty smiled shyly at him. "I guess that would be ok," she shrugged, feeling incredibly nervous.

"C'mon," he said, lightly taking her hand in his and leading her along. "Tell me about your life, Myst," he suggested, his voice low and meaningful.

"What do you want to know?" she asked, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

"Everything," he replied. "Just start from the beginning."

"Well," she said, breathing in a sigh of relief, "in the beginning it was scary. And I missed you all constantly. Especially you, Ash," she admitted quietly.

"Oh yeah?" he asked in reply, giving her a familiar cocky grin.

"Yeah, because every adventure I'd ever had in my life up to that point had been with you, and I didn't know what to expect on my own," she explained nervously. "I wasn't even sure that I could cope on my own."

"If you had asked me I could have told you that you would be fine," he said quietly, still leading her onwards. "I knew you'd be great at whatever you did, Myst."

She smiled softly, feeling less nervous as they walked. She had almost forgotten how comfortable it was to be with Ash. He had an amazing ability to put her at ease no matter what the situation and she felt like she could tell him almost anything at this point. They seemed to walk for a long time, and she felt as though everything between them was exactly how it was supposed to be.

"It got easier when Jacques found me," Misty said, continuing her story. "He believed in me and that made me believe in myself and so everything became a little less scary. And as things started getting better and busier with my work, I started miss this place and you and Brock and Pikachu – I started to miss everything a little bit less. But I never forgot any of it."

The words hung in the silence between them as they suddenly stopped walking. Ash tried to read her eyes, tried to figure out exactly what she was trying to tell him. There was something in her eyes that told him that things were more important than they seemed, but he didn't understand any of it and all he could think about was the fact that he was still holding her hand.

She had said almost exactly the same thing last night, and he hadn't been able to understand its significance then. Now in the light of day, when she was able to conceal her thoughts and feelings to a greater degree, he found himself even more confused. All he knew was that everything she said was as true for him as it was for her, even if she was no longer aware of it.

"I missed you too Myst," he said quietly, looking down at the ground. "I just wasn't sure how to tell you that."

He quickly dropped her hand, and turned to start heading back the way they came. "I reckon your top will be dry," he called back after him. "Do you mind giving me a lift back to the bar on your way to Jesse's?" he added. "I need to get my car."

"Yeah sure," she called after him, following his steps.

Old emotions stirred inside her. In those moments it had felt like nothing had changed. He was just Ash, and she was just Misty and everything was exactly how it should be. She felt more like herself than she had in years.

_'I know that you are my best friend and I am yours,'_ she heard herself say in her head, and she wasn't sure if she should smile or cry.

_"Should I smile because we're friends, or cry because it's all we'll ever be . . ."_

~ to be continued ~

Awww! How sweet? They're reconnecting.

Realized that the title sounds a bit preachy and judgmental, but I swear I'm not like that. It's a line from the song 'Sweet Home Alabama' and a reference to the fact that Misty had no idea what she did the night before - nothing more.

So if you all really want to find out what happens next, you're gonna have to show me a bit of review love. If you've read any of my other crazy ramblings you will know that I do not like to update more than once a week (because I'm neurotic, there's no other reason), but if I get shitloads of reviews I will get it up faster.

Also, now that I've completed this fic, I need to know what story I should move my attention to, even if it's one of the new ones I'm working on or one of the CCS ones. I suspect the answer is going to be On Angel Wings but we'll see.


	10. Friendly Faces

Got a nice pile of reviews there. I probably should of told you all what the magic number was I was waiting for (I like nice round numbers like '5' so I had that in mind the whole time).

Totally just changed the rating. I never really got the new ratings system when they brought it in and it just made logical sense to me that K+ was equivalent to PG13. Just found out that T is really the equivalent for PG13 so the story has gone up given that PG13 was always the intended rating for this one because I'm not as interesting to hear rant when I censor.

I think this chapter may be a bit short, but we're moving along now and picking up a bit of pace. There are a few more pep-talks to come from various people - thought it might make a change to the internal monologues. Misty is very conflicted right now.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon. I do own its lesser known major competition 'Spankemon' featuring such memorable characters as Catch Ashen and his 'Spanke-partner' Enriquechu. For all merchandise enquires please send $1,000,000 in unmarked bills my way and I'll get back to you.

Sweet Home Pallet – Friendly Faces

"How'd the rest of your night go?" Jesse asked knowingly as she handed Misty a cup of tea across the table. Two majenta haired children played cops and robbers in the corner while watched by a very attentive Arcanine.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Misty replied stonily.

"Really? Because from what I hear you spent the night in a certain young Pokemon Master's bed."

"How do you even know?" Misty asked incredulously, staring at Jesse with an open mouth. She couldn't believe that Jesse could be so straightforward about something like this.

"Good news spreads fast," Jesse replied with a shrug, but continued when Misty raised an unimpressed eyebrow in her direction. "I have my ways," she added mysteriously, "but mostly I just presumed from the fact that that's the exact same top you were wearing last night."

Misty blushed brightly as Jesse gave her another knowing smile. "It's not like he's even a Pokemon Master anymore," Misty muttered as though that made a difference.

"So he told you?" Jesse asked, surprised.

"Not exactly . . ."

"I didn't think he was going to tell you," Jesse continued, her voice sounding far away, "at least not right now."

"Well I don't think he was going to tell me," Misty explained. "I found the letter from the league in his desk."

"Oh, I thought . . ." Jesse began, trailing off as she realised she had already said too much.

"What?" Misty asked, her eyes filling with worry. "What isn't he telling me?"

"It's not my place," Jesse said, shaking her head. "If he wants you to know he would have told you, but otherwise, it's not my place to tell."

This only made Misty more worried. Her mind immediately jumped to the worst conclusions, and she was filled with a familiar fear for Ash and his safety. "If he's in trouble or something's wrong or anything bad is going to happen to him, I need to know," she said almost deathly seriously.

"It's not like that," Jesse said determinedly, "it's just, his to tell. Anyway," she added, perking up, "I didn't realise you cared so much. Don't you have a fiancé or something?"

Misty was taken aback by the sudden change, and flushed once more. "Ash is my friend," she replied quickly, feeling flustered. "I just worry about him. That's all."

"I remember that one," Jesse said with a wistful, nostalgic smile. "It was one of my favourites. That one and the 'he owes me a bike' thing."

"Jesse, sometimes you make no sense at all," Misty replied, playing dumb.

Jesse just laughed in response, in no way fooled by Misty's act. "C'mon Misty," Jesse chuckled, "James and I followed you two around for the better part of five years. We've known you two almost as long as you've known each other. Do you really think we didn't know?"

"There was nothing to know," Misty replied quietly, turning her gaze away. She watched Jesse's children play in the corner. They were, ironically, playing with a stuffed Pikachu now and squabbling a little over whom got to play with Pikachu first.

Jesse sighed as she two turned her eyes towards the kids. She got up, and grabbed a spare Pikachu she kept on hand just in case, which seemed to make the two very happy. She wished all of life's difficulties could be solved so simply.

"I want you to think about this very carefully before answering," Jesse said softly as she turned back to Misty. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here for my ring," Misty said quickly, almost automatically.

"Why?" Jesse added.

Misty stopped. She hadn't thought that far ahead and nobody else had bothered asking her why she wanted that ring or what was so important about it.

"It's a family heirloom," Misty said vaguely. "I just want it to stay in the family."

"Then why did you give it to Ash?"

"Because . . ." Misty began quietly, "Because Ash is my family . . . and I was so sure I was going to spend the rest of my life with him . . . . and . . . and I just wanted to know before . . ."

"Before you went and married the wrong guy?" Jesse finished helpfully for her.

"No, Patrick isn't the wrong guy," Misty argued dispassionately, "he's just . . . not Ash. I shouldn't hold that against him," Misty finished with a sardonic laugh.

"Then why are you marrying him at all?" Jesse asked looking concerned.

Misty shrugged. "I don't want to be alone," she suggested.

"No, that's not true," she added, shaking her head. "I'm marrying him because . . ." she trailed off with a soft sigh. "Because I can't spend my whole life waiting for Ash to see me the way I see him. And the ring just proves it."

"How does the ring prove anything?" Jesse asked. She was becoming a little exasperated at how stubbornly Misty held onto her belief that Ash didn't love her.

"Because he doesn't have it anymore," Misty replied, a small tear falling slowly down her face. She wiped her eyes before more appeared and hardened her jaw. "He promised me he would never take it off, but I don't even remember ever seeing him wearing it. And now he's just stalling for time because he doesn't have a clue where it is."

"Maybe he's stalling because he doesn't want to let you go?" Jesse suggested.

"Let _it_ go," Misty corrected, but Jesse seemed happy to stick with her formulation of the sentence. "Let's not talk about me anymore," she suggested gesturing frantically as if to fight off the gloom of the conversation they had sunk into. "I came here to catch up on how _your _life is going. Tell me about you and James, and the kids. What made you guys move to Pallet?"

"As strange as it sounds," Jesse replied with a smile, kindly allowing Misty to change the topic, "we missed you twerps. And when the twins were born, we figured this was the perfect place to raise them. James got a job at the police station. I teach at the school. Things sort of just worked themselves out.

"That's the things about Pallet," she continued, her eyes falling lovingly on her two children once more, "no matter how far you go, it just seems to draw you back into it. It's like you can never leave, because it always takes a part of you."

Misty sighed, understanding the feeling. She had left her heart in Pallet Town, pretending she didn't need it – hoping it would mend itself in time. And now she was back, and maybe it had, only she couldn't tell because it still felt the same.

It still felt like she was falling and couldn't stop herself. It still felt like she was reaching out for a hand to hold and hoping it would be his.

It still felt like home.

* * *

Misty drove slowly, taking her time. She had put this moment off for as long as possible, but she knew she couldn't put it off any longer. Her sisters were sure to know that she was back in town by now – they had their ways. The longer she delayed this, the worse it was going to be when she finally had to see them.

She took a deep breath and that seemed to calm her. Her shirt still smelt soft and soapy – like Ash actually, and that seemed to have its usual effect. Engulfed in his scent, she felt as though she could face anything, even her three sensational sisters.

She stepped out of the car and closed the door quietly. She made her way up the familiar steps that led to her front door and knocked lightly.

Footsteps could be heard from within, and a voice cried out as it made its way nearer. Its annoyance was more than evident.

"Don't you know there's no battles to . . ." Daisy began as she swung the door open fiercely. The words seemed to die in her mouth as she came face to face with of cerulean blue eyes and fire red hair.

"Well –like- if it isn't the prodigal sister," Daisy cried happily as she engulfed her baby sister in an all-encompassing hug. "You are right on time," she added.

"For what?" Misty asked, eying the youngest of her three sisters suspiciously.

"For the 'Water Festival'," Daisy said happily. "That's why you're here right?"

"Um . . . sure," Misty replied awkwardly, her voice suspiciously high at the end. "Since when did Cerulean have a 'Water Festival'?"

"Oh . . . you know," Daisy said flippantly as she led Misty into the gym. "It's . . . new."

Misty was glad to see that like so much of her homeland, the gym had hardly changed since she was last there. The rooms were all still decorated in about fifty different shades of blue. Most of the walls were covered in framed posters from the famed water shows. In one corner was a large glass case with the cascade proudly on display along with intricate figurines indicating all of the Pokémon collectively owned by the Cerulean gym leaders.

Misty almost ran into the Pokémon habitat happy to see her treasured Pokémon still in such good care and condition. They too were happy to see her and crowded around the side of the tank to greet her. Once more she wondered how she had stayed away from Kanto for so long when everything she loved was here.

"We've got the big opening ceremony tonight," Daisy explained, leaning over the rim of the pool with Misty. "And then our best water show yet at the end of the week. That's why it's so perfect that you're here now. That gives us four days to practice."

"Daisy, you better not be thinking what I think you're thinking," Misty warned. "I did not come all the way back here just to play the princess in one of your stupid water shows."

"Then why did you come back?" Daisy asked obliviously, tilting her head to the side.

"I . . . well . . ." Misty started as she tried to find the words. She sighed as she realized she was caught. "No reason. No reason at all."

Daisy laughed as she wrapped an arm around her little sisters shoulder. "We've all missed you heaps Misty," she said with a soft smile, "and nobody more so than Ash. I think you like, broke his heart when you left."

"His wasn't the only one," Misty muttered. "No more Ash talk, please," she begged sadly. "I've had enough of that today to last me a lifetime. Now if you want me to be in this show, you better tell me what you expect me to do. I may be out of practice a little."

~ to be continued ~

I did a bit of a backtrack through this story only to discover that I was the only person who knew the significance of the ring which is quite bad really. I was so sure that I had explained it earlier, but I guess I must have deleted the scene or something when I took out Occam's razor. So now you know about the ring and why Ash has the ring, and why Misty wants the ring.

Also I think the scene with Jesse worked out quite sweetly over all with little Ned & Kelly playing in the corner – in case anyone is still confused Ned Kelly is the name of a famous Australian outlaw (what with Jesse James and Butch Cassidy already being taken). I love the 'Do you really think we didn't know?', total genius if I do say so myself.

If you want another quick update, the magic number is 60. REVIEW!


	11. Strangers in the Night

Cos that I've finished I'm at that stage now where I want to just update all the time - I'm getting very excited about the fact that it's almost completed and I want to see what you all think about it. Thus, to avoid me just putting the whole thing up at once I'm setting minimum review limits which are very difficult to stick to when you desperately want to update (I think I was at the point where I was going to update today regardless of whether I got to 60 or not). Just a warning on how my neurotic mind works.

A word to a reviewer: **pikagurl23** in response to your On Angels Wings review because I'm not sure how long it will be before I update that one, you were right about the Takeshi thing. 'Takashi' is the CCS name for their very own NEA member and its saved into my dictionary on word to make sure I spell the name consistently (which is something I do with all Japanese names, especially for CCS) and so it gets corrected to 'Takashi' when I try to write 'Takeshi'. It is clearly not very happy with me right now.

I'm glad you're all liking where it's going, and to everyone who hasn't seen Sweet Home Alabama you definitely have to - it's kinda getting to a point where it's starting to diverge a bit from the movie, but I swear you cannot watch that movie without thinking to yourself 'man this would make a great AAML', well not if you're me.

DISCLAIMER: guess nobody wanted any Spankemon merchandise, and I didn't even specify currency (although I was hoping you all had pounds in mind, or gold, gold works too. Although not yellow gold cos I'm pasty so it doesn't really work with my skin tone so more like white gold or rose gold. Actually let's call in platinum, gotta love platinum. And maybe some nice stones. Not diamonds cos their so cliche, but I love sapphires because I was born in September which makes them my birthstone along with lapus. I'm also a fan of emeralds and rubies, I love the really colourful stones and the more precious the better . . . I think there was something I was supposed to be saying here, oh well . . .

Sweet Home Pallet – Strangers in the Night

Misty walked along the streets amazed at what the town had been able to pull off. The streets were lit up with lanterns, many of them in the shape of water Pokémon. Stalls lined the side walks selling balloons, dolls, pokeballs and trinkets. All this culminated on the park opposite the gym.

Lights were strung between the trees and blue ribbons hung lavishly wherever you looked. A pond full of water Pokémon seemed to have been spotlighted from the gym. A stage had been erected at one end of the park and a band on stage was playing an old country and western song.

For some unfathomable reason, her sisters had chosen 'Cowboys and Indians' as their theme for the opening ceremony. She suspected that none of them was aware of how ironic a combination it made to have cowboys and Indians at a water festival.

"Woah der," a voice from behind her called, drawing her attention. "Don't you just be the cutest little Injin I eder did see."

Misty turned slowly, a scowl perfectly placed on her lips, but she couldn't help but smile when she saw Ash and Pikachu standing smiling at her in full cowboy attire. Ash and Pikachu wore matching chaps and stetson. Pikachu had a little blue bandana wrapped around his neck and slightly too large belt slung around his hips carrying his weapon of choice - ketchup. A tiny silver sherifs badge was pinned to his chest.

"Pikachu, you're positively adorable," she cooed as she took the electric mouse lovingly in her arms.

"Pika," he agreed with a smile, nuzzling Misty's cheek. "Chu pi Pikapi," the pokemon added chirpily.

Misty looked at Ash with a smile, a slight blush on her cheeks. Her eyes appraised him in a checkered blue shirt that made his eyes seem to sparkle and deputy badge to match Sheriff Pikachu. She couldn't disagree with the electric mouse. "No, I suppose he doesn't look too bad either," she admitted painfully as she gave Ash the once over. "But you are definitely cuter," she added to Pikachu.

"Aww Myst," Ash said jokingly, smiling widely. "I know that was supposed to hurt but I already know that I can't compete with Pikachu for your affections. Maybe if I was all yellow and furry, Pikachu would have some real competition."

"Even then I think Pikachu would have it in the bag," she laughed, ignoring her reddening cheeks.

She studied Ash carefully, not really sure what she was even looking for. His warm smile was exactly the thing she had missed so badly for seven years. And she had missed how special felt under her gaze because she knew that if Ash really tried he could be with any girl he wanted in that moment, but he was there with her.

The two lapsed into silence, their thoughts consumed by one another and thoughts of the past.

_'How can you still love someone after all this time?'_ Misty half wondered, and half taunted her self. Her gaze never left him in spite of everything happening around them. She hardly noticed.

"Do you want to dance?" Ash finally asked awkwardly, scratching the back of his head just like he always did when he was nervous. "Something tells me I owe you one."

"I think we're even," she said quietly, finally averting her eyes to the ground. She looked up slowly, a small smile gracing her lips as she spoke, "but I could dance."

Ash smiled as he took her hand in his and led her towards the stage, where crowds of people were dancing along to the band on stage. Misty suspected that the band were the reason for her sisters choice of theme as they played a retro, somewhat folky hit.

Brock and Sabrina danced near by, smiling happily at each other as they spun each other in circles, their small brood probably being watched diligently by the grandparents. For them it was like nobody else was there. Jesse and James were both in there too, a child in each of their arms as they moved around to the music. Jesse twirled herself and Edmund on the spot, while James teasingly dipped little Callie low to the ground, which made her giggle in glee. The two smiled as they caught each other in a quick kiss and danced their children around the floor.

Even Professor Oak and Delia were in on the action, practicing some very old school moves with grace and ease. It was no surprise that Delia was such a good dancer, but Professor Oak was unexpected. Daisy and Tracey tangoed jokingly across the dance floor and they were really the most impressive sight there.

Misty observed all this as Ash took her hand in his and wondered if she could ever be so happy as they all were now. And as she looked into Ash's warm chocolate brown eyes she knew this was the moment – that she would never be as happy again in her life.

_Moving forward using all my breath,_

_Being friends with you was never second best,_

_And I saw the world crashing all around your face,_

_Never really knowing it was always mesh and lace._

_I'll stop the world and melt with you_

_You've seen the difference and it's getting better all the time_

_And there's nothing you and I won't do_

_I'll stop the world and melt with you_

_(You should know better)_

_Dream of better lives, the kind, which never hate_

_(You should see why) _

_Trapped in a state of imaginary grace_

_(You should know better)_

_I made a pilgrimage to save this human's race_

_(You should see why)_

_Never comprehending a race that's long gone by_

_I'll stop the world and melt with you_

_You've seen the difference and it's getting better_

_All the time_

_And there's nothing you and I won't do_

_I'll stop the world and melt with you_

_(I'll stop the world and melt with you)_

Misty let out a melodic laugh as they walked together under the lanterns and past the stalls that were closing up shop for the night. She cradled the sleeping Pikachu in one hand, and carried a stick of candyfloss in the other.

"Oi, get your own candyfloss," she cried as Ash tried to swipe a piece.

"I can't. They're closed," he replied, looking sad and pitiful. He knew that look always broke her.

"Fine," she sighed with a warm smile on her face. "Just one."

Ash quickly obliged. He had almost forgotten how beautiful she looked when she smiled. No, that was lie. He could never forget that. He had just missed it, which wasn't really the same thing. He loved it when she smiled.

"I'm glad you're here Misty," he said softly, his eyes looking at her with sincerity.

"Me too," she said quietly, looking at the ground to avoid his gaze.

"You left so suddenly last time, I just never got the chance to tell you everything I needed to say to you," he added with a crooked smile.

"Like what?" she asked, her eyes moving up to meet his suddenly.

His heart almost stopped as he looked at her. Her eyes stared into his with innocent wonderment and for once he didn't have to wonder if he was simply in love with a memory of a girl he knew a long time ago.

The girl before him was the one. She was undoubtedly the love of his life. She always was, and always will be.

Ash had never really thought about it until that moment, about what it was that kept him wanting Misty. The whole time she was gone all he thought about was how much he missed her, but not why he missed her, or better yet, why he loved her. It had just been a given in his life that he was in love with Misty and that he was going to miss her all the time.

That's not to say that he didn't have his reasons, merely to say that it wasn't something he had ever had to voice aloud, to formulate in his mind, or put into words. Perhaps like everything else about Misty, they were simply inexplicable.

"Well Ash?" Misty asked, watching him expectantly. "If you can think of no better reason for wanting me here than finally getting some closure then I'm leaving," she added teasingly as she awaited his words.

"Sorry Misty," he replied as he realised that he had been in a sort of trance trying to find the words for what he was about to say. "I'm sorry I'm not as eloquent as Mc what-his-face or anyone else for that matter, but this is the only way I know how to say it."

He took a deep steadying breath and looked deeply into her eyes as he spoke. It was now or never. He realized that Brock was right – that if he wanted Misty as much as he said he did, he had to take the risk. He was going to have to fight for her this time even if it meant losing her for good.

"I love you Misty," he told her, his voice heartbreakingly sincere, "and not because you're beautiful, and smart, and kind, and brave – which you are by the way, just in case you ever thought otherwise. But because when I'm with you everything around me seems more beautiful, because you make me want to be smart, because you inspire kindness in others, and because you give me a reason to be brave."

Misty gasped as he finished, dropping her candyfloss as her hand went to her mouth. For what seemed like forever she just seemed to stare at him, as though she was still trying to understand exactly what it was he was saying to her.

When she finally spoke her voice was heavy with emotion and tears welled in her eyes. "Ash . . . I . . ." she began softly, her eyes anxiously searching his eyes. "Ash you . . . you can't. You can't mean it . . . not now," she told him pensively, tears falling soundlessly from her eyes. "Not when . . . I'm engaged . . ."

Ash watched her carefully, not sure whether this was the reaction he had been dreading or something different completely.

"Why couldn't . . ." she started, but trailed off as though lost in her own little world. She felt unwilling to believe him. She had made a life for herself centred almost entirely around the conviction that Ash could never feel the way for her that she felt for him, and with three small words the whole thing was crumbling down around her. "You've ruined everything," she added sadly, her voice filled with pain and anguish.

"I know," Ash said with a sad smile, accepting his failure graciously. "I just . . . I just needed to say it once before you were out of my life for good."

"It's . . ." she started sadly, trying to find the words to explain her self, but they wouldn't come. How could he choose now of all times to tell her the one thing she had been wishing for her whole life? Why now when she had finally made a life for herself without him? When things were finally going right?

"It's ok Myst," he said softly his eyes sad but warm and understanding. He gently kissed her cheek and wiped away her tears as he took Pikachu form her arms. He forced a smile onto his lips as he stepped away, taking a few moments to embed her image in his mind.

"Good bye Myst. I hope you'll be happy."

And with that he was gone. And all she could do was stand there with her hand against cheek where his lips had met her skin.

She tried to find the words to call him back. She screamed them in her head so loud it drowned out every other thought. _'Ash!'_ her thoughts cried. _'Don't go! I love you . . .'_ but her lips refused to form the words.

This time he was the one walking away, and she was the one who was just letting him go.

And all she could do was whisper his name.

"_Ash . . ._"

~ to be continued ~

Sorry that this is short, but . . . I don't really have a good excuse. I suspect that I may need to explain Misty's behaviour here, which is really a sign of bad writing more than anything else. Basically (relying heavily on a Personal Construct Paradigm) Misty has a core belief about Ash not loving her, and upon finding out that this belief she held so strongly is a false one, rather than her being overjoyed, she's completely lost. Knocking out this core belief causes all the other structure of her mind/personality/life to crumble down around her and that's why she's gone and done the exact opposite to what she should have done in this situation.

I think the chapter title kind of implied that this was going to end badly. In fact, I almost started the chapter with an apology knowing you were all probably going to hate me by this point, but I didn't want to give too much away. Bet you weren't expecting that so soon. In fact, neither was I. Total spur of the moment thing there to have Ash confess his love for her (I had considered throwing it in when she was drunk but I thought that would have just been cruel).

Also, I know that 'Melt With You' wouldn't really fit into a 'Cowboy's and Indian's' theme. I wanted to break the scene up with a song, and that was what I was listening to at the time of writing this chapter (the Bowling For Soup version, thus the cleaned up lines - although what was really so dirty about them 'making love', stupid Disney).


	12. Misery Loves Company

Ash's little proclamation there really threw off my original formulation but I think I'm happy with the eventual result and that's what matters. I love dramatic irony (why else do you think I insist on writing in eye-of-god, even when I intend to stick to a single characters point of view I can't help myself) so usually I spend most of the fic having the two characters angst over their feelings for one another while I smile all knowingly as they wonder if the other feels the same. Quite a change to have a confession so early in the piece (relative to my other fics).

So this chapter (so you don't have to search back to refresh) is two days since Ash's confession - well more like a day and a half but you get the gist.

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Pokemon the entire show would revolve around Ash and Misty's burgeoning relationship and most of the Pokemon would be axed from the cast unless they somehow furthered this relationship e.g. Chikorita could stay (because of her jealousy) and Pikachu (in order to offer advice and someone for Ash to talk to about his feelings for Misty) and Togepi could return (in egg form as the two of them raised their child Pokemon together). A few of them would be able to remain due to their general cuteness like vulpix and evee. Essentially it wouldn't really be Pokemon at all, and I may have to rename the show to 'Super Happy AAMR Time!' or something equally sappy.

Sweet Home Pallet – Misery Loves Company

Misty sighed as her eyes flickered open slowly. She was waking in her old room back in Cerulean, making the conscious decision not to go back to Pallet after the opening festival. If anyone asked – which they often did – it was so she could get herself back into shape for the Water Show in two days time.

"Stupid Ash," she muttered to herself as thoughts of him rushed at her. Thoughts that seemed to consume her every waking hour. His words kept repeating themselves in her head over and over again, wearing down her defences.

"Stupid Misty," she sighed sadly, fresh tears welling in her eyes. "Stupid, stupid Misty."

Togetic flew around her in comforting circles, purring words of condolence. "Mummy not stupid," Togetic said softly in its own poketongue. "Mummy just scared."

"I'm not scared," Misty replied, glaring haughtily at inanimate objects.

"Of course you're scared," the Pokémon replied, having a rare moment of ingenious insight. "Being with Daddy means giving up everything. If it ends then you've nothing to fall back on – no net."

Misty sighed as she reached for her young Pokémon, wrapping it in a hug. "When did you get so clever, Toge," she asked sweetly as she gently stroked her face.

"I've always been smart Mummy," Togetic replied with a smile. "You were just always so busy mooning over Daddy to notice."

"Oi," Misty said warningly. "I'm very upset right now. You're supposed to be nice to me."

"That's not what Uncle Brock and Auntie Jesse said," Togetic replied innocently. "They said that somebody needed to whack some sense into that thick head of yours."

"Nice," Misty muttered rolling her eyes. She sighed again, her eyes becoming distant as her thoughts consumed her once again. "I am being sensible. He's hurt me before," she said sadly. "He's the only one who ever could hurt me. I can't put everything on the line when I have no idea how this is going to end.

"Damn stupid Ash," she sighed as she raked her fingers through her hair. "Why couldn't he have been in love with me when I was in love with him?"

Togetic gave her a knowing look, which led to Misty sighing again. "I mean before, when everything was simpler, instead of now when everything is so complicated," she explained, making very little sense to either herself or Togetic.

"Why is it complicated?" Togetic asked, staring at Misty in wonderment. Human affairs had always confused her, especially when Pikachu wasn't around to explain them. "You love Daddy and Daddy loves you. You do love Daddy, don't you?"

"Of course," Misty said, her eyes and voice softening at the thought of her beloved. "Always. But it's not just about him. Or me. What about all the people I'd be letting down? Jacques put his own reputation on the line to get me where I am today. And my staff. Andrea. Patrick. For the past seven years I've been building a life in Emerald, and loving Ash means letting all that go and letting all those people down.

"I can't be irresponsible like that," she added, her eyes clouding over with concern and worry once more. She tried to sound certain and come to some sort of conclusion, but it was rather futile. "Emerald is the right decision. It's the sensible choice. I can't just let everything there go. I have to finish what I started."

"But what about Daddy?" the Pokémon questioned, flying out of her arms.

She sighed sadly. "Ash . . ." she said quietly. "His life is here. He has his friends and his family and his Pokémon and they'll all be there for him when I'm gone. They'll help him see that . . . I'm nothing. If I was around . . . I would only ruin things and he'd soon realize that he was wrong – that he could never be in love with me. It's better that way."

Togetic was shocked. "You can't mean any of that, can you?"

"No," Misty said simply tears streaming down from her eyes once again. "But I've made me decision, Toge, and I can't take it back now. I have my responsibilities in Emerald. He has his life here."

"I noticed you never said much about your life," a voice asked from the door, startling Misty. Daisy smiled apologetically, not meaning to eavesdrop on the private conversation that Misty was having with her child Pokémon, although it was quite apparent that she needed an adult's perspective on things.

"You know the answer to that," Misty said, replying to the question implied in Daisy's statement.

Daisy shrugged, her smile understanding as she gazed into her little sisters sad eyes. "If he's your life why are you leaving him?" she asked after a few moments of silence made it clear that Misty wasn't going to say it.

"Because . . ." Misty began trying to find words to explain her reasoning, but all of them failed her.

"You can't leave him Misty," Daisy said, her voice serious. "You know it. I know it. Even Togetic gets it.

"You can try," Daisy added, almost laughing at the possibility, "but I doubt you make it another seven years without him."

"I can live without Ash," Misty replied sternly, perhaps more a mantra to keep herself in check than for Daisy's benefit.

"No you can't," Daisy replied, taking a seat next to Misty on the bed and holding her hand comfortingly. "If your being here proves anything, it proves that he's a part of you Misty and you can't just leave that behind. He's the one, and you trying to deny that isn't going to do anybody any good.

"Now," she said, standing up suddenly and reverting to her usual perky self, "Lily and Violet have lured Ash over here under false pretexts' and it's all totally for your benefit, so I suggest that you put a smile on and like try to work out just what it is you want to say to him."

And with that she was gone leaving nothing but the scent of daisies in her wake.

* * *

Ash arrived at the gym promptly only to find a lone figure standing at the front door of the house attached to the gym, seemingly trying to get someone's attention.

"Can I help you?" Ash asked, staring at the stranger with interest. Nobody ever tried the house door – as far as he knew the thing didn't even open – so he guessed the guy must have been new to town.

"Ah yes," the man replied, his voice confident and unassuming in spite of the awkward situation that he found himself in. "I've been standing outside this door for the last twenty minutes trying to get someone's attention, and now I'm not even sure if I'm at the right place."

"Are you looking for Tracy?" Ash asked, eyeing the stranger once again. He was dressed formally in an expensive looking pinstripe suit with a matching vest waistcoat underneath. He knew that Tracy did often spend a lot of time visiting the Cerulean gym and imagined that this finally explained it.

"I'm sorry?" the man said, his brows narrowing in confusion, but the confident air never leaving. "I'm looking for the Waterflower residence," the man explained.

Ash's eyes widened as everything started to click. There was something familiar about this man – Ash knew he recognised him from somewhere.

"You're here for Misty," he said sadly, his heart breaking slowly as it all dawned on him. This was him; the man that had stolen her heart. The one that would make her happy when all Ash could do was make her cry. This was the one person that Ash despised most in the world.

_'But he makes her happy,'_ he thought sadly to himself and that was all that mattered. He would step aside and forget about his own feelings if it meant that she would be happy.

"Misty?" Patrick asked, silently cursing Ash for making everything so frustratingly confusing. He didn't like it when people knew more than him. "I'm looking for my fiancée, Kasumi Waterflower."

"Of course," Ash said, glowering at the man who seemed to insist on rubbing salt into the wound. "Kasumi. I'll show you the way."

"Who's this Misty person?" Patrick asked, as Ash opened the front door to the gym. "Is she a relative of Kasumi's?"

"You could say that," Ash said sadly, not turning back to meet Patrick's gaze. "But I'm not sure she'd know her anymore."

* * *

Misty smiled as she spotted Ash walking towards her from across the room. The minute she saw him it was like something finally clicked and everything made sense. She needed so desperately to talk to him. To tell him all the things that were on her mind – to tell him what she'd tried to tell him all those years ago.

But her eyes went wide when she suddenly realised he wasn't alone.

"Patrick!" she cried as her eyes flicked nervously between the two men in her life.

"What are you doing here?" she asked worriedly.

"I came to deliver your fiancé," Ash replied snidely, his eyes full of pain and betrayal his head loathed to admit.

"I think she was talking to me," Patrick butted in, however he seemed to be ignored by the pair who stared at one another, their eyes clouded with emotion.

"Well thank you . . ." Patrick began awkwardly, but Ash quickly cut him off.

"Do you want to know what happened to Misty?" Ash asked him suddenly, glaring at Misty as he spoke. His voice was callous and harsh, and so unusual Misty couldn't help but gasp. "She died."

"Ash, that's a terrible thing to say," Misty cut in. He was almost unrecognisable; completely transformed by his pain.

Ash ignored her and continued, telling Patrick the story he'd kept inside for far too long. "She died in the worst possible way," he continued, heart wrenchingly. "The kind that leaves a hole in your heart that nothing else can fill. And you don't want to fill it, so it just keeps getting bigger and bigger until the whole thing consumes you, and the hole is not just in your heart anymore.

"It's a hole in your life. A hole that is so huge that the only way to go on is to just change things so completely that it seems like you died along with her.

"Only she's not dead," Ash finished sadly, looking at Misty with a look of pity and sadness like none she had ever seen before. "She's just . . . gone."

He stared at her for a moment, shaking his head in disapproval before turning his back on her for good.

"Ash wait, I . . ." she cried, reaching out for him as she searched for the words to explain herself.

He turned quickly cutting her off before she could continue. "No you wait Kasumi," he hissed quietly, his whole face contorted with pain. Though his words were harsh, they were only filled with sorrow, not anger, and the pain of realizing his loss. "I don't know you anymore. You can keep your stupid trinket and you can just go and have yourself a nice life without me."

With that he angrily pulled a chain from around his neck and forced it into her hand, walking away before she could say anything more.

Misty watched his receding figure disappear with a sense of regret like she'd never felt before. She wanted to chase after him, but she felt rooted to the ground. She couldn't do it.

"What was that about Kasumi?" Patrick asked obliviously wrapping his arms around her in a way that felt totally alien to Misty. It shouldn't have been him.

"Just a misunderstanding," she explained vaguely, her emotions in turmoil. Her eyes remained trained on the last spot she had seen him, almost as though she was waiting for him to return.

She forced a smile as a single tear escaped her sad eyes. A tear that went unnoticed by Patrick, but that didn't matter.

It wasn't meant for him.

~ to be continued ~

Don't you love the hole in your heart line? This is actually one of the scenes that I wrote quite early on and I have no idea where that part came from, but it so sweet and deep and completely OOC seeing as it's coming out of the mouth of Ash Ketchum, but losing the love of your life really changes a person. Sort of.

Awwww, poor Ash and Misty. Damn Patrick! Had to just come along and ruin things. Stupid Ash and Misty! Those to are so stubborn the only way to get the pigheaded pair together is to orchestrate some elaborate insurmountable circumstances and watch the chaos ensue. It's like I said: 'the kid seemed to get some sort of kick out of insurmountable odds or something' and it's totally true. Not that I don't love the whole odds against them thing.

So go and review please. It's probably a bit of a long shot, but I would love to get to 80 reviews by the end of this fic and there are only two more chapters left (maybe epilogue? we'll see).


	13. To Be Named

I thought I was up to the second to last chapter, but it turns out there are still two more after this which is excellent. This chapter I think continued the 'so close, but so far' theme (which I adore by the way).

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Pokemon Ash would be on prozac right now - not because of anything that I personally did to him, but rather because the loss of Misty would make him totally suicidal. The boy was not nearly sad enough when she left in the series. I can only assume it was because he knew that even though they were saying goodbye, it wouldn't be forever, but still . . .

Sweet Home Pallet – To Be Named

"So this is Cerulean?" Patrick laughed taking Misty's hand in his own as they walked through the streets of her home town. "It's so quaint."

Misty forced a laugh as they walked down the same street she had walked down with Ash only a few nights ago when he told her he loved her. Now she was a big gaping hole in his heart that seemed to suck the life right out of him. She had stolen his drive. It was like she had destroyed everything in Ash that made him so wonderful.

"It's not quaint," Misty said finally. "It's a metropolis."

Patrick just smiled to himself, pulling Misty closer to him. "What was troubling that boy from before?" Patrick asked casually, not seeming to notice the way that Misty seemed to stiffen before him. "What did he say his name was? It was something to do with fire."

"Ash," Misty said softly. "He was just in love with a girl that doesn't really exist anymore," she replied, taking a deep breath to hold back her tears.

"But how can you love someone if you won't even fight for them," Misty muttered, her voice low so that Patrick barely heard her. "No gestures. No battles. He couldn't even wait for her to leave before he was moving onwards and upwards. He just moved on and she was the one left to rebuild."

"I take it this girl was a friend of yours," Patrick said softly, his voice comforting, "and this boy hurt her."

"Yeah," Misty replied, smiling tightly. "He broke her heart in the end."

"And you'll never forgive him for it," he finished for her, laughing at her sweetness.

"I suppose not," she said, her voice sad and distant. "Let's just forget about it. It was a long time ago."

Patrick nodded, willingly moving on. "This place is really quite wonderful," Patrick commented, returning back to the original topic of conversation. "Don't you think it would be something to have the wedding here? We could get away from the press, and all your friends and family could come."

"Bu-but what about Ireland?" Misty stuttered, stopping to look at her fiancé. "I thought that was the plan."

"Oh honey," Patrick said soothingly, talking her around like he always did. "We can still go to Ireland for the honeymoon. Didn't your dad say that he hated flying?" he added to convince her. "This would just work out so much better for everyone. I mean, Cerulean is your home after all."

Misty stared at him quietly. She very rarely thought of Cerulean as her home – almost never really. It was a place that she had grown up, but so was Pallet and Johto and the Orange Island's and most of Kanto. She had been travelling for almost her whole life, and there was only one place that she considered home, but it just wouldn't be right to marry Patrick there.

She had always dreamed of a little wedding in Pallet, on the beach at sunset. Her guests would smile at her as she walked down an aisle laid down of fresh flowers and seashells. She'd be in a simple dress – something light that would float around her as it was caught by the wind. And then her husband-to-be would slowly turn to meet her and his chocolate brown eyes would stare into her own cerulean blue like there was nothing else that mattered.

As she listened to Patrick continue, talking about gazebo's and security, and canapés and wines imported directly from the south of France, she realized that the two of them had very different dreams. Patrick dreamed of spectacle and Misty dreamed of someone else entirely.

"I'm not sure I want a big wedding," Misty said quietly, turning her gaze away from his face.

He smiled, turning her back to face him. "I think I know what you're trying to say Kasumi, my love," he smiled, caressing her face. "You don't want to drag out the engagement so that you can be Mrs. Kasumi Filan as soon as possible," he laughed again as he lightly met her lips with his.

Misty closed her eyes, remembering a different kiss. Remembering a man who always knew what she was trying to say even when she didn't have a clue herself. A man who never laughed at her because he thought she was being cute or silly – a man whose laugh made her smile and whose perfect words made her cry as they replayed themselves again and again, taunting her subconscious.

A man that wouldn't fight for her.

Patrick would fight for her. He _had_ fought for her; persisting until she was his, almost against her will. He had even followed her to Cerulean right when she was drifting away from him. If that wasn't love then she didn't know what was. Patrick wasn't the one who was passively letting her slip out of his grasp and into another's, and she loved that about him. With time she could learn to love other things, maybe even Patrick himself.

_'How can he say he loves me when he's willing to just sit back and watch me marry another man?'_ she wondered to herself sadly. She knew that Patrick wouldn't let her slip away like Ash had.

"Why do you love me?" she asked Patrick suddenly, forcing him to stop so she could look him in the eye.

He laughed again, thinking she was being cute like he always did. He kissed her cheek before replying, and Misty tried to shake off the feeling that she was betraying Ash in letting another man kiss that cheek which he had claimed with his own lips.

"I love you because you are beautiful Kasumi," Patrick said simply, his voice soft and sweet as he stared lovingly into her eyes, "inside and out."

She forced a smile, averting her eyes to the ground so that he wouldn't know she was lying. "Good answer," she said softly. "Ditto."

"You're in a very strange mood Kasumi," Patrick said with another laugh. "Come. Let's find somewhere to eat and we can talk more about our wedding plans."

* * *

Misty was pensive as she drove around Pallet. She was feeling ambivalent and a desire to stay away from Pallet was even stronger than when she first arrived.

Patrick had sent her to Pallet for reasons he refused to explain. He was planning something special for just the two of them, and he wanted to make sure she wouldn't find out his surprise. Thus she had been sent on some sort of ridiculous errand to Pallet Town with very little explanation by her fiancé aided by her three lovely sisters.

_'Fickle cows,'_ Misty thought to herself spitefully. It was only yesterday that those three had been pushing her towards Ash and trying to lure him into secret rendezvous. Now they were all on team Patrick, and Misty was left somewhere in the middle trying to make some sort of decision.

There was Ash and there was Patrick. And both of them professed to love her and her alone.

And then of course, there was her. Her heart only belonged to one man. It always had.

"But it's not enough," she sighed. "You can't get by on love alone."

She knew she could be happy in Emerald. She was happy in Emerald most of the time provided that she could immerse herself in her work and forget everything else going on in her mind.

She stopped outside a familiar house, ignoring all the thoughts in her mind that questioned her motives. The house was exactly the same as she remembered, from its white picket fence to the red door and blue shutters. The gate hung open invitingly, and she almost expected to see a young version of herself come running out to greet her.

The house's occupant was happy to see her. Delia Ketchum immediately wrapped her in a hug before she had even raised her hand to knock on the door.

"I was hoping to see you Misty," Delia said sweetly as she led Misty into the house. "There's something I wanted you to have."

Delia ran off in search of the mysterious item before Misty even got a word in, leaving her alone in the living room to survey her surroundings. Everything about the house was exactly the way that Misty remembered. Pictures of Delia's 'babies' as she often called them all, littered every wall. Framed clippings were everywhere listing her son's accomplishments along with those of his closest friends – she even had fresh clippings of the reviews of Misty's latest show and portraits from Brock and Sabrina's wedding.

Delia was as proud of Brock and Misty as she was of her own son, viewing them as honorary children. Although a special place had been reserved for Ash's accomplishments, her house was a much a shrine to all three of them and their journey's together and apart, as it was to Ash.

Misty walked slowly around the room, smiling as she went by pictures full of memories. She didn't even remember seeing a camera at most of the events, but she suspected that Delia had her ways.

"Well look at you," Misty said quietly as she picked up a photo of herself in a pale blue Kimono. It was a picture from the Maiden's Peak festival, and she couldn't help but wonder where Delia had even gotten it from.

"You had it so easy," she told the image quietly. "If only you had known at the time, you could have avoided all of this."

She moved along, Delia's walls seemingly plotting the journey of her life. There were pictures from almost every important life event staring back at her. Birthdays. Battles. Engagements. Weddings. Graduations.

Misty stopped suddenly, her attention absorbed by a recent image of Ash and his mother standing in front of an old looking building. Delia was smiling proudly at her son who looked strongly into the camera lenses. He was dressed in a long black gown, with a flat square cap atop his head. He held a rolled up piece of paper in his hand, and even though he looked sad, he smiled like someone who knew that the future had much to promise.

Underneath this photo was a certificate written in cursive with his name on it. 'Ash Ketchum,' it read amongst other things, 'Bachelor of Laws'.

Misty couldn't take her eyes off it. She hardly noticed when Delia returned with the item she had been searching for.

"He almost acts like he's ashamed of it," Delia sighed as she followed Misty's gaze to the diploma hanging solemnly on the wall. "All that work he did just to get there and he refused to put it up in his house. I had to almost beg to let me hang it on my wall."

"Wh-what? Wh-why?" Misty stuttered, turning to face Delia who smiled sweetly at Misty even as her eyes filled with concern.

"What is it, Misty?" Delia asked softly, taking Misty's hand gently in her own. Even as she asked the question, you could see in Delia's chocolate brown eyes that she knew what was happening.

"Is this why he's leaving the league?" Misty asked, finally finding the words she needed to say.

"No, of course not," Delia said lightly, her smile never changing. Misty seemed to relax with that admission, as though that knowledge was a weight off her shoulders that she didn't even understand. She knew that seeing that diploma meant something, but she couldn't begin to understand what.

"You are," Delia added, suddenly very serious.

Misty gasped, dropping Delia's hand and turning back to face the wall. It was all her fault. It was her fault that Ash was giving up on his dreams. Her fault that he was leaving the league.

All her fault.

"Why?" Misty asked, still gazing at the diploma, rereading it in the hopes that it would turn into something else that didn't mean the same.

"I think you know Misty," Delia replied, taking a step towards the young girl and gently placing her arm around her comfortingly. "It's ok."

"I don't," Misty said sternly, turning to face Delia again. "Why, Delia?" she begged. "Why?"

"It starts with how," Delia said sadly. She knew that this was Ash's story to tell, but she knew he wouldn't tell it on his own. The two were as stubborn as each other, and Ash had resolved himself to the fact that Misty would be happy without him.

"He came to visit you in Emerlad City," Ash's mother explained, her eyes and voice full of sincerity and compassion. "It would have been less than a year after you got there. He tracked you down and he went to see you."

"He never -" Misty started, but trailed off as Delia silenced her with a quick nodded.

"He went to see you, but when he got there he couldn't even bring himself talk to you," Delia continued. "He saw you there in this whole other world, and how happy it made you. And how he didn't fit.

"Emerald was this whole other place and you were like this whole over person there standing in your own spotlight and breaking out your shell. It was everything he could dream for you – seeing you so happy – but it was a world that he could never fit into," she sighed. "It was all there in front of him. All the things that he had built his dreams on were unimportant in your world, and he knew he needed more than them to win you back. He needed to make something more of himself, something that would fit into your world before you could love him."

"No," Misty told her, her eyes filling with tears. "You're lying. Ash was never there. He doesn't love me. He wouldn't fight for me."

"Misty," Delia sighed softly, taking Misty in her arms almost unexpectedly. "He loves you so much, and you'll never know until you take that chance. You've already wasted so much of your life being scared, and doing the right thing. You're missing out on the greatest love of your life because you're so scared he won't be there to catch you.

"Don't you think it's about time you stopped playing it safe, and just followed your heart?" Delia asked with a heart felt smile.

"I don't know," Misty replied sadly. "I just don't know anymore. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to feel. All I know is . . ."

"Nothing," she said suddenly, stepping out of Delia's embrace. "I have to go," she said walking back towards the front door. "Patrick's waiting for me. I have to go."

"But you forgot . . ." Delia began as Misty closed the front door behind her, trying to escape the new questions that Delia's admissions raised.

Delia looked down at her hands sadly at the small figurine that she held lovingly in them. She wasn't even sure now if it was her or Ash that had kept it, but she was the one who had it now, although she had attempted to return it to its true owner.

She sighed, her last words straying from her mouth sadly.

" . . . this."

~ to be continued ~

I'm not sure how believable Ash is as a lawyer, but I felt that it made the most sense, especially if you place it in an adversarial type system, which is kind of like a Pokémon battle, and he would potentially have enough charisma to pull it off. I wanted something that would be praised in Emerald, but almost the complete opposite of Ash's personality and I think him having to go through at least 4 years of study (I don't know how it works in other countries, but law is an undergrad degree for me and therefore only 4 years) would be something that would be quite trying for him to complete.

My original plan was to have him open a café (like in Sweet Home Alabama) but it just didn't seem right where as the law thing feels kind of perfect now that I've gotten used to the idea.

Please review and keeping thinking about the possibility of an epilogue. Part of me likes writing epilogues because I like naming all the children (especially Brock and Sabrina's brood cos you know they're gonna have a big family - I say somewhere between 6 and 10), but I don't want to ruin a perfectly good ending just because i've already named Brock's 9 kids in my head, plus Misty and Ash's five (triplets plus two onetuplets) and the kid that Tracey and his life partner (Gary?) have adopted from Cambodia (cos Cambodia is so hot right now) and various others . . . not a good reason at all.


	14. Catch My Breath

At some point in this chapter you are probably going to want to kill me or one of the characters. Just thought I should mention that in advance.

In unrelated news, I just wrote the funniest scene for The Show Must Go On involving Misty trying to measure Ash for his costume and completely freaking out when she realizes she needs the measurement of his inseam. LOL! I'm quite liking writing in the awkward teenage moments in that one - they're actually quite amusing now that I am no longer a teenager. So with that said, on with the fic . . .

DISCLAIMER: yes, I do own Pokemon, but it's this massive secret so you've got to keep it to yourself, ok?

Sweet Home Pallet – Catch My Breath

Misty felt almost numb as she drove back to Cerulean and back to the gym. She felt like her movements were not her own, as though they had somehow become automatic and she was just travelling along for the ride.

She couldn't let herself think. Thinking was the absolute last thing she needed to be doing right about now. She was not going to let herself get sucked into that deep depressing cycle all over again, not when she had finally convinced herself that Patrick was the right choice and that Ash wasn't really even a option for her at all.

So instead she drove numbly along the road to Cerulean, indiscriminately forcing all thoughts out of her head. It was the only sensible thing that she could do, because everything seemed to remind her of Ash.

Her mind seemed like it was being torn every which way.

_'How do you know?'_ she thought pensively to herself as thoughts came crashing upon her once again. She thought back to Brock's wedding when she had asked him a very similar question.

"How did you know that Sabrina was the one?" a naïve sixteen year old Misty had asked the nineteen year old Brock with a certain person in mind.

"I didn't, I still don't," was Brock's reply. "I hope that she's the one, and it would probably kill me if she wasn't."

Misty was not pleased with his answer, and made no efforts to hide that fact. "I'm looking for advice here. Don't you think you could be a little more helpful?"

Brock just smiled smugly at the young girl. "You want some advice Misty? Tell him. That's it."

"How insightful," Misty had replied bitterly.

"It's good, top-grade advice I'm giving you here," Brock had replied cheerfully. Even Misty's sourness couldn't have ruined his good mood on the happiest day of his life. "C'mon Misty. You know Ash. He's not going to take the initiative here; he's hardly going to come up with some grand gesture to proclaim his love for you. It's not even about that."

Misty was confused by his answer. "How can it count without the battles and fighting for it and gestures of love?"

Brock smiled again. "I didn't say there would be none at all, just no grand gestures. It's the little one's that count, and you probably won't even recognise them at the time for what they are. It's the little things that give him away."

Almost nine years later Misty still wasn't sure if she even understood what Brock had been talking about. Had she really been missing them this whole time?

He said he loved her, but was that even enough? She wasn't the same person that she had been seven years ago. She was colder, and superficial, and closed off from the world. She didn't even really like herself some days, so how could he possibly love her?

She knew that love was about more than just the show and grand gestures, but . . . she wasn't even sure how that sentence was supposed to end anymore. She felt as though she was missing out on something, that there was something more she needed from Ash before she could go and choose him and turn her back on the life that she had built for herself.

Her heart seemed to race as she pulled into the gym and her body filled with dread. She felt like she was moving towards something terrible, but she couldn't simply will herself to turn around.

She tried to get in before her sisters could see her, but they spotted her before she saw them.

"Like Misty, you should have been back ages ago," Violet complained. "Go get dressed. Your fiancé will be here any minute to take you to your special dinner."

The girls giggled together in unison as Misty headed up to her room. _'Fickle cows,'_ Misty thought to herself once again as she slammed her door.

Her green dress hung over her chair, as though awaiting her arrival. Apparently her sisters had already chosen her outfit for her and she slipped on the emerald, strapless dress quickly. Once again she refused to let her thoughts stray. The futility of this measure was immaterial, but she was resolved to try and avoid thinking at all costs.

She glanced at herself in the mirror as she put the finishing touches on her appearance. She sighed sadly, wondering if her younger self would even recognise her in this garb.

"Misty, what have you done?" she asked, looking into her sad cerulean blue eyes. "None of this was meant to happen and now it's all just falling apart."

"Baby sister!" Daisy cried, drawing Misty's attention away from her own miserable existence. "Patrick is here!"

Misty nodded resolutely, determined that there was no turning back now. She grabbed a small box from her dresser and tucked it into her purse as she walked downstairs to greet her fiancé.

She forced a smile onto her lips as she caught his eye. His unbrilliant dirty brown eyes brightened as they fell upon her, and a cool smile spread across his face. His dark locks were arranged perfectly on his well-groomed head. His lean figure was tall and imposing making her feel small, but not in a good way. He wrapped his arms around her as her mind compared him to the touch of another.

"Where are you taking me?" she said with false happiness as he led her to his car.

"You'll see," he replied mysteriously.

Misty's heart raced as he turned the car in the direction of Pallet. Everything about that small town seemed to pulling at her, like long tendrils wrapping themselves around her heart. Her roots seemed to keep dragging her back there.

They drove for a while, past most of the Viridian forest, until Patrick pulled over suddenly on the side of the highway. Like the perfect gentleman he stepped around the car and opened her door, helping her out of the car. He led her into the forest, oblivious of Misty's residual fear of bug Pokémon, leading her to a clearing next to waterfall surrounded by a large lake.

_'Not here,'_ Misty thought as she surveyed the scene that Patrick had produced especially for her. _'Anywhere but here.'_

In the middle of the clearing sat a small table with a white tablecloth set for two with a dish laid on each. Other than that it was completely empty, and nothing about it had changed in the fourteen years since she had last seen it.

"What do you think, my love?" Patrick asked, smiling widely.

A small tear tried to escape from Misty's eyes, but she blinked them back and forced another smile onto her face. "It's the things that memories are made of," she replied with a soft sigh as they took their seats at the table.

"Here," she said, smiling vaguely at Patrick across the table as she pushed the much loved ring towards him. "I thought you should have this."

He smiled appreciatively as he took the small golden band in his hands. It was a simple ring; yellow gold and smooth. Its only distinguishing feature was the finely engraved image of the Waterflower crest on the outside. It was a family heirloom of such. It had belonged to her father, and his father before him, and given to Misty as she left for her journey to remind her of where she came from and what would always be home. And she gave it to Ash, because he was home to her and she wanted to give him a piece of herself.

But now she was giving it to Patrick.

Her father always used to joke about how the ring was intended for the man who stole his youngest daughter away from him, and she guessed that was Patrick now – not Ash.

As she looked up at Patrick studying the ring with a curious look, she was suddenly struck by how much he looked like Ash, and it filled her with a terrible longing for the real thing. Her mind wandered effortlessly to when she had given the same ring to Ash so long ago. How he'd smiled at her, a cheeky little grin, and asked whether it was his for keeps. She'd told him that it was his to do with as he pleased, and he promised he'd never take it off.

Seeing him rip it off that chain had confused her. It changed everything. Only it changed nothing at all, because she was with Patrick and as far as Ash was concerned, she was dead.

Misty looked up suddenly, drawn form her thoughts as Patrick drew her attention towards him.

"Well that's odd," Patrick muttered, perhaps more to himself than Misty.

"What's odd?" she asked curiously, peering at him with wonderment across the table.

"The inside of the ring," he replied incredulously, "it's been engraved, I think." He squinted at the ring slightly, trying to grasp what it said, before taking out his glasses so as to read the tiny, elusive script.

"Ash and Misty forever," he stated blandly, as though it meant nothing at all.

Misty gasped and smiled ever so slightly to herself as her pulse quickened. "It meant something after all," she whispered quietly.

"What is this?" he asked, confusion evident on his face.

"It's a gesture," she replied simply, her eyes glistening with happiness. "And there was a battle and he fought, I just . . . didn't see it," she finished quietly, almost kicking herself for being so blind.

Patrick looked between Misty and the ring and back again before speaking. Things were beginning to make sense. "Kasumi?" he asked cautiously, "Why did you give this to me? That boy from before, he was saying something about Misty, about her being dead or something. What was his name . . ."

He smiled sardonically as suddenly it all made sense. Everything. Right down to her insistence on coming back to her quaint little metropolis. "Only she's not dead, is she Kasumi?" he asked darkly, pushing the ring back across the table. "I mean, Misty?"

Misty nodded sadly watching the ring move towards her. "Oh Patrick," she sighed sadly. "I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry."

"What for?" he asked, standing up angrily. He began pacing as he put his thoughts into order, voicing them aloud for Misty's sake. "Sorry for lying to me? For treating me like a fool? What exactly is it you're sorry for Misty?"

"Please Patrick, don't be like this," she begged standing to stop his pacing. He glared openly at her, awaiting explanation.

"Be like what, Misty?" he asked, spitting her name out like it left a bad taste in his mouth. "I'm sorry if I'm over-reacting a little, I just don't like being lied to.

"I'm a powerful man you know," he added. "My mother warned me about you. I just knew something was wrong, but I didn't think it was something like this. I just . . . I thought better of you."

"Patrick," she cried desperately, cutting him off. "I never lied to you. My name is Misty, and it's Kasumi. I never hid that from anyone."

"You think that's what this is about? That this is all about semantics?" he asked angrily. "You really don't get it do you."

"Whatever it is, just tell me what I did wrong and I'll do whatever I can to make it up to you Patrick," she pleaded. "Just tell me what it is."

"This isn't about me," he told her, "or you. It's about him."

"Ash . . ." she muttered softly, almost wistfully as she fell back to her seat. Her eyes clouded with tears as she thought about everything. About how she'd screwed everything up all over again. How she'd lost her best friend, perhaps for good this time. How lost she was without him and all the things she'd never be able to tell him.

"I led you on," she whispered quietly as she realised what she'd done. She looked up at Patrick sadly and offered a pathetic smile. "We never had a chance."

"That's the worst part," he told her, his voice softened by her pain as he took a seat next to her. "You lied to me in the most awful way Misty. You led me to believe that you loved me – that you wanted to marry me – when just looking at him makes it so clear. I'm just a poor substitute for what you've wanted all along."

"It was never like that," she told him, but Patrick shook and smiled grimly, unconvinced. "Under different circumstances," she sighed pensively, "things would have been different. I would love you, and we'd have this perfect wedding and live happily ever after, but . . ."

Misty paused as her voice became choked with emotion, but Patrick kindly took her hand in his and urged her on.

"I've been in love with him so long," she continued. "It's like a part of me. It's like he's a part of me. It hurts to be apart, and I'm sick of trying to live without him." She sighed again as she turned to Patrick, her eyes shining with sincerity. "It was wrong for me to promise you my heart when it was never mine to give. I never meant for it to be like this. Believe me Patrick when I say I never meant to hurt you."

Patrick sighed resignedly putting a comforting arm around her shoulder as tears welled in her eyes. All his cruel words died in his throat and his eyes softened as he listened to her words. He felt for her. It was obvious how much it pained her to be so in love with Ash, when he was so out of reach.

"I can't believe I'm going to forgive you," he muttered jokingly as he searched his pockets for a handkerchief.

"You shouldn't," she told him with confidence, suddenly looking up and drying her tears with her hands. "What I did was terrible."

"Terrible yes," he told her with a chuckle, "but not unforgivable."

She looked up at him, a slight smile gracing her lips as she hugged him lightly.

"You know I really did love you," he told her as he brushed her hair away from her face. "At least, I thought I did. I'm not so sure anymore. I don't think I've ever felt for anyone the way you feel for Ash, or the way he feels for you. What was it he said? Like a hole in your heart."

"Part of me wanted to be in love with you so badly," she told him with sigh.

"But it's not enough is it?" The two nodded together knowingly. "You know that there's someone out there who really truly loves you, like the air he breathes. You're his life Misty. But I guess you already knew that."

He smiled at her kindly, pushing the small gold ring into her hand. She looked up at him, surprised by his gesture and what it meant. He was letting her go.

"This doesn't belong to me," he told her. "Go. Find him. Love him."

She stood up slowly as everything sunk in. She was free to go to Ash.

She smiled as she kissed Patrick on the cheek. "You're too good for me," she smiled. "Somewhere there's a girl who'll love you and appreciate you like I never could. Thank you, Patrick. Thank you so much."

He smiled back, standing to give her hug before sending her on her way.

"Promise me you'll always follow your heart Misty and I assure you it will always lead to him." He smiled even more broadly as another thought struck him. "Maybe all those wedding plans won't go to waste. Now hurry up and get to him before it's too late."

Misty smiled as she broke into a run, because in her heart she knew exactly where he'd be.

~ to be continued ~

I suspect that I'm not actually capable of writing a fic without them coming back to this spot in the Viridian forest at some point. Although usually it's in the epilogue when Ash proposes so it's use here is a bit strange.

One chapter left (and an epilogue if you think it needs it). Next chapter isn't too long, but we'll see. Please review and go read my new fic Game Set Match (not about tennis) especially if you're interested in some good old character bashing.


	15. Home to You

__

So this is it, the final chapter of Sweet Home Pallet and I think the story itself has taken some twists that even I didn't expect when I first started writing it so I hope you've all enjoyed the ride. Thanks to everyone who reviewed this story and everyone who added it to their favourites or authors alerts. Don't forget to keep the epilogue question in mind when you get to the end cos it's not something you can really answer til then. Ignore the italics, fanfiction decided to format it weird.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon or Sweet Home Alabama but everything else is MINE

Sweet Home Pallet – Home to You

_A boy with ebony locks looked hopefully into the eyes of his best friend._

_"Hurry Toshi!" the girl replied, taking his hand in hers and dragging him towards her favourite spot. "It's almost time . . ."_

Ash sat alone on the beach, staring into the darkening sunset. He could only think of one thing, his heart breaking as the colours of the sky seemed to match the colour of her hair and ocean turned the exact same colour as his eyes.

She had made her choice, and that was ok with him. All he ever wanted was for her to be happy, and if he was what made her happy, then that was enough for him. He felt like his heart had been torn out of his chest and ripped in two, but that didn't matter as long as she was happy.

Thinking of her smile almost made him cry. It hurt that he wasn't the one making her smile and that her smile would forever belong to someone else, but those were just a part of the sacrifice he was willing to make.

_"What's so special about this one anyway, Sumi?"_

He didn't stir as he heard her soft footsteps approaching, or even when she sat down next to him. Part of him didn't truly believe that she was even there. And the rest of him couldn't explain her presence.

The two of them sat in a hushed silence, the only noise was the sound of waves breaking on the shore.

Ash breathed deeply, readying himself for whatever it was she was going to say. He could tell by the way her body seemed to stiffen that she was getting ready to say something important and she had no idea how he was going to react. He had always been able to read her like that.

_The wind tossed her short red hair across her face as her crystal blue eyes stared out into the ocean. This was her favourite place to be, this was where she felt complete and soon she would have to leave it._

_How could she leave such a place that held her whole heart?_

"Do you remember that day," she asked him cautiously, breaking the silence that surrounded them. "We were sitting right here, and you told me that you were sorry and . . ."

She sighed.

"I had it all planed out, exactly what I was going to say," she sighed looking down at her feet as she dug them into the cool sand. "And then . . ."

She sighed again.

All she wanted was for him to say something anything, just so that she knew he understood.

"It wasn't your fault," Ash told her softly, still staring intently into the darkening sky. "We just grew apart."

"No," she told him sadly. "It was. I made it happen, Ash."

Ash turned to look at this, his brows burrowed in confusion. She wasn't making any sense to him right now. Why would she come all this way just to tell him 'sorry'?

His eyes grazed slowly over her figure. She looked as beautiful as ever, dressed in a silky emerald dress that hung down to her knees. Her shoes seemed to have been discarded and her feet were slightly stained with grass. Her hair was dishevelled, even having the occasional leaf in it that he had to restrain himself from lovingly removing from her hair. He had to remind himself that she belonged to somebody else. In his eyes she had never looked more beautiful.

Their eyes met and his heart ached as she realised that she had been crying. He hoped that he wasn't the reason for her tears as he tried to read the emotions in eyes. Just when he thought he had it figured out, she turned her eyes away and continued explaining herself in a soft voice.

"I know you don't blame me, Ash," she told him quietly, "and I guess that's a good thing. But you should."

"Misty . . ."

"No, I . . ." Misty began, her eyes filling with tears as she relived a day seven years ago over and over again in her head. "I just . . . I couldn't be your friend anymore."

"Why?" he asked worriedly, his eyes filling with concern. He couldn't take the thought of him causing her pain and ruining their friendship all at the same time. "What did I do?"

"It wasn't you," she explained. "It was me." Her eyes brimmed with tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks, but she held them in as best she could. She needed to be strong for this moment.

"I couldn't just stand there any more, loving you like I did. I couldn't do it. I couldn't stand the thought that you didn't feel the same, or worse, that you felt nothing. It was like I had hole in my heart, but it was so full that I felt like I was going to explode if I didn't do something about it."

"Misty, I . . ." Ash began but Misty cut him off.

"Don't say anything," she told him. "I need to get this out." She took a deep breath and continued. "I couldn't keep it all in anymore and I thought maybe if I went away, it wouldn't be so bad. I thought I could stop loving you if I didn't have to see you all the time, but when I didn't see you I was thinking about you. Nothing worked.

"And then I met Jacque, and he introduced me to the fashion world. And then I was so busy thinking about that, that I thought I was over you. And then I come back here, and the second I see you it all comes flooding back. All the memories we had together, and it's like it's even stronger than I ever imagined it could be.

"And I guess I just had to say it," she finished, watching Ash for a reaction. "Just once so I could get it all out in the open. I just need to say it once before I lose you for good."

The two reached the beach and stood silent for a few moments in awe just admiring the perfect sunset as if it was made especially for them. She hoped it would stay with her forever.

She paused, preparing herself for something she had longed to say for almost fifteen years. Those three small words that had longed to pass her lips for as long as she could remember.

She carefully took his hand in hers and closed it around the small trinket that had brought her all the way to Pallet Town to begin with. Back to the beginning.

She stood up slowly, brushing the sand off her as she smiled down on him, a smile so full of love that there could be no doubt.

"I love you Ash," she told him with an impish shrug. "I loved you then, and I love you now. And I guess that's been the reason all along."

For a few moments they just stayed there staring at one another, but slowly all Misty's hope began to die away. And as she began to realise that this was it, she sighed and began to walk away, knowing it was finally over.

She had missed her chance and now he was lost. If only she hadn't let her jealousy force her hand all those years ago. If only she had been braver sooner. If only she had been stronger and hung around to hear his words. If only she had believed him and hadn't waited for some romantic ideal. If only . . .

But this was it now. She'd done everything she could, and that was that.

"You were never nothing," he said suddenly stopping her in her tracks.

"What?" she asked, turning around slowly.

Ash smiled, quickly getting up from his seat in the sand and closing in on the few steps between them.

"In fact," he offered, smiling awkwardly, "you were everything to me. You are everything." He shrugged, mimicking her movements and taking both her hands in his. "I love you Myst. I always have, and I always will."

She smiled, happier than she'd ever been in her life, as tears poured down her pale cheeks.

Ash returned her smiled, dropping her hands as he wiped away her tears and cupped her face in his hands. He gently lowered his lips to hers and claimed them as his own, tentatively at first, but with greater passion as he felt her lips press back against his own.

"You never answered my question," he said huskily as they broke apart, kissing her cheek as his fingers gently traced the outline of her collarbone.

"What . . . I . . ." she began as she remembered which question he was referring to. "Why would you want to marry me anyway?" she asked him with a soft smile, her eyes lighting with joy.

"I think you know the answer," he replied, kissing her a cheek softly and sending shivers down her spine.

"Maybe," she replied with a mischievous smile. "But there's one thing you have to know."

She pushed herself away from him, suddenly becoming very serious. Ash's heart seemed to ache from the distance between him, and his first instinct was to reach out and wrap his arms around her once again.

Misty made a 'tsk tsk' noise, reprimanding his actions before she spoke. "I'll have you know Ash Ketchum," she told him with a frown, "that I fully intend on marrying a Pokémon Master and some self inflated lawyer just won't cut it."

He smiled in relief, wrapping his arms around her gently and kissing her once again. She nuzzled herself into his chest, and he looked down on her with a soft, serene smile full of more love than either of them had ever thought possible.

"Welcome home Misty."

_~ THE END ~_


	16. Epilogue: Blue Skies

You all asked for it, so who am I to deny my public. Here is the Epilogue for Sweet Home Pallet followed by a teaser for Ash: The Last Stand because I think you've all deserved it for putting up with my complete inability to finish a story. If I wasn't so good at the coming up with random ideas thing I'd probably be shot.

DISCLIAMER: I do not own Pokemon, although I've been writing AAML so long I reckon that I must have earned some sort of stock in it. We should totally petition Nintendo or something. I'm gonna claim my teaser only because I'd be really pissed if I saw someone else using it.

Sweet Home Pallet – Epilogue: Blue Skies

A knock at the door pulled Misty away from her reverie. She briefly wondered who had won the race, but knew she would be happy either way.

Racing out of the kitchen, Misty ran to the front door to be greeted by two of her best friends.

"Andrea! Pascal!" she cried happily as she embraced the pair in a friendly embrace.

"Oh please darling," Pascal begged, his smile wide, "don't lump me in with that one. A twelve hour flight from Emerald to Pallet and I've seen enough of this woman to last me a lifetime."

"The feeling is mutual," Andrea replied dryly, checking her nails.

Misty was unfazed in her happiness. "Come in guys," she said joyously as she ushered the pair into the house. "It's so great to see you guys."

"You too Mrs. Ketchum," Pascal said, an eyebrow raised which made Misty blush. "I cannot believe it. One minute it's all over town that the perfect couple has broken up, and the next thing we know you're hitched to some never heard of Pokémon trainer of all things."

"Pokémon Master," Misty corrected. "And he's still sort of practicing as a lawyer. You should see him in court," she added dreamily. "He just put Giovanni away for twenty-five years without bail for animal cruelty charges and mass conspiracy. I never thought a lawyer could be so hot."

"Oh we can see," Andrea laughed, point to Misty's large pregnant belly. "First you run off with your Master cum Lawyer, then you two disappear for an inordinate amount of time, and now first time I lay eyes on you in half a year you're looking like this. Makes me wonder how long this business with the Pokémon Master was going on for."

"Yes, perhaps there was a reason why this wedding of yours happened so quickly," Pascal asked with a raised eyebrow.

Misty Ketchum laughed merrily, her eyes lighting with joy as she talked with her two friends. "It's not what you think," she told them. "Multiple births run in the family so the reason I'm looking like a house is because there's three of them in there. I'm only five months along."

"Ahh," Pascal said understandingly. "I take it the honey moon went well then?"

"Two months on an island resort," Andrea cut in, "I'm sure it went very well."

"Cut it out you two," Misty said, blushing brightly. "I haven't been hasselled this much about Ash since I was twelve."

"Don't mind us," Pascal said, pouting. "We're just jealous of how happy you are. Marriage and pregnancy seem to bring out the best in you."

"I have to agree," Andrea commented. "I've never seen you look this happy in all the time I've known you. Even when you and Patrick we're together, you never looked this happy."

"How is Patrick?" Misty asked, feeling guilty at the mention of her ex-fiance.

"He's doing very well," Andrea told her. "He just got engaged to this beautiful model from Sinnoh. She used to be a Pokémon co-ordinate. Beautiful young thing with blue hair and long legs. She doesn't say much, but she's the perfect political wife. You, Misty, were too outspoken to be the wife of a politician."

"That's encouraging," Misty replied, letting her happiness bubble over once again now that she didn't have to feel like it was at the expense of someone else's.

Pascal and Andrea were right – she had never been so happy in her life. Everything about her life felt perfect, everything felt right. She was in love with a wonderful man who loved her back, she was having his children, and every day she found more reasons to love him. She didn't have any regrets in life, other than not living it sooner.

"So what's this I hear about you getting back into the fashion industry?" Andrea asked, breaking Misty free of her reflections on her own happiness.

"Nothing big," Misty admitted, "just a small boutique that I'm opening in Cerulean City. If that goes well I might set up a few more. Can't let talent like this go to waste, can I?" she joked.

"I suppose not . . ." Pascal began, but Misty cut him off.

"Hold that thought," she told him as she heard the crunch of tyres turning up the driveway. She half skipped, half ran to the door pulling it open to reveal a handsome young man in his early twenties readying himself to knock on the door. He looked surprised at first as a ball of red fury bounced into his arms, but his expression turned to one of serene joy as he hugged the figure back with all his might.

"How is the little woman?" he asked softly as he kissed the top of her head.

"The little woman is missing her little man," she replied with a smile as she turned her face up to his so he could kiss her lips. He was immediately accommodating, and sealed her lips with his own, their kiss filled with just as much love and passion as their first.

"Tell the league no more long trips," she told him, her eyes dreamy as she pulled away. "Three weeks is too long."

He smiled down at his wife, his expression mirroring her own. "I'm sure Lance will do just about anything you ask," he joked. "He's so grateful to you for changing my mind."

Misty chuckled lightly as she buried her head in his chest. Breathing deeply his fresh scent. She missed this when he was away, and now things were truly perfect.

"Did I beat our guests?" Ash asked as they began to move into the house.

Misty blushed as she realized that she had completely forgotten about her guests upon the arrival of her husband. She was going to have to learn to be a better hostess in the future.

"So you're the husband?" Andrea smiled as she and Pascal saw the two walk in, the very picture of love and happiness.

Pascal rushed up to the pair, taking Ash's hand in both of his and shaking it vigourously. "I must say Mr. Ketchum that your pictures do not do you justice," Pascal gushed, winking at Misty.

"Uh . . . thanks," Ash replied awkwardly, letting Misty go so he could scratch the back of his neck. "But you can just call me Ash."

"Well then Ash," Pascal said, controlling himself a little more, "I must say that it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Misty has said so much about you."

"Really?" Ash asked, somewhat surprised by this.

"Really," Andrea replied. "Although she never did tell us how cute you were. If I'd known I would have sent her back to Pallet on the first available flight. How she was able to keep herself away is beyond me."

Ash blushed feeling awkward which Andrea and Pascal immediately noticed. They shared a look with each other and then with Misty, which indicated that they approved of the Pokémon Master.

"Don't mind us," Andrea said, trying to make him more comfortable. "We're just teasing. We're both very happy for you two. Well . . . five."

"Mustn't forget the triplets," Misty joked, arm wrapped around Ash's waist.

"Have you thought about any names yet?" Pascal asked, as the four of them walked to the lounge and sat down. Misty got up and headed to the kitchen to get some tea, forcing Ash to stay seated in spite of his protests that she needed to rest.

Ash nodded at Pascal. "It's two girls and a boy," he told the man. "The girls are going to be Brooke Azalea and Tracie Selena. The boy is Ash Junior, which was surprisingly Misty's idea."

"What gorgeous names," Pascal gushed. "How did you come up with the girls names?"

"Well, Azalea is my mother's middle name and Selena was Misty's grandmother's name," Ash answered. "They're actually named after my two best friends Brock and Tracey, although with some variation seeing as they're girls."

"It's all so wonderful," Pascal sighed. "The perfect happy ending."

* * *

Every year for the past five years, a group of friends have met for a picnic, bringing their families together. The day itself holds no special significance, and the ritual probably isn't entirely necessary, but it's tradition, and the perfect excuse for bringing ones loved ones together.

The Slate's are one of the first families to arrive, their large brood staking their claim on a large portion of the area. Brock fusses about the older kids, while his wife Sabrina carries the youngest of ten in her arms. Later that day when everyone has arrived he will make a joke about only needing one more to complete his soccer team. In return his wife will ask him about subs – after all, you need at least five – and Brock will pale at the though of sixteen children.

The eldest, Malachite, is thirteen and the eldest among all the youngsters present. Trying to look very mature, he sets himself up under a tree with a very heavy looking book on the general principles of astrophysics. He isn't really too interested in the book itself, and will struggle to reply when his grandfather questions him on the topic, but he is hoping to impress the adults with his maturity in the hopes that his father will relent and let him start his Pokémon journey a year early.

Next up are the twins, Arthur and Guinea (Guinevere) who are more interested in honing in their psychic abilities so they can play pranks on their friends. These two are ten and are already looking forward to playing with another pair of twins that we are already familiar with. Playing cops and robbers is so much more fun with telekinesis. This will not end well.

Nine year old Saffie (Saphire) Slate walks beside her mother, trying to play the grown up in a different way. She tries to help her mother with the baby, but starts crying herself when the baby throws up on her and runs crying to her father who smiles at her softly as he dries her tears and wipes her shirt. Sabrina smiles at the two, reminded as she always is of the reasons she fell in love with the man before her.

BJ trials slightly behind the group, carrying a large egg in his arms. Nobody is quite certain where the seven year old got it, but he won't let it go no matter what and so his parents have simply resolved to simply let him and the egg be. Later this day the egg will hatch, however, it will be at the one moment when Brock Junior is not around and it will choose an unlikely mother in Meowth. It is a smoochum.

The five youngest slates stay close to their parents, although this is not necessarily voluntary. Erie, who is three and half, clings to her fathers leg, feeling unsure about the gathering now that she is old enough to appreciate it. She knows that all the people who will be there are people she has met, but is apprehensive of seeing so many people in the same place. This is a strange thought given that her family alone makes up such a large portion of the guest list.

Brock's blissey pushes a pram containing the two-year-old twins, Emerald and Ruby, and Brock himself carries the sleeping one year old Llewellyn in a pack on his back. Last is the newest addition to the family, two month old Katerina who clings relentlessly to her mother and will let no one else hold her. This one will always love her mother best, but her father will show her no ill will – she is as precious to him as the other nine and he loves each of them in their own special way.

He smiles at his wife and child as they settle themselves down in the picnic. _'Maybe ten is enough,'_ he thinks to himself, certain that with their latest addition, their family is most definitely perfect. Although one more couldn't hurt . . .

The Femesse's arrive next, the officer and his schoolteacher wife swinging their two ten year olds between them even though they were probably getting a little old for such displays. As their eyes lighted upon Arthur and Guinea, Ned and Callie quickly ran off to play with their friends. Their parents covertly made plans for marriage in the future.

Meowth followed the twins, watching their every move. He mothered the pair more than even Jesse and would probably have a heart attack if either one received even the slightest scratch. Jesse was always curious to see this, but was too cautious of the children herself to let it happen.

The two majenta haired children are truly no match for the pair of jade haired psychics and as mentioned earlier, this will not end well. Along with having the powers of telekinesis, teleportation and telepathy at their disposal, the eldest Slate twins have set up various pranks all around the picnic grounds. Much to Meowth's relief (and Brock and Sabrina's too) Ned and Callie were not harmed in anyway by their pranks. Unfortunately for Meowth, the feline was not nearly as fragile in his old age and managed to get caught in various traps of silly string, feathers, and gunge. In the old days, Meowth would not have hesitated to practice his scratch attack on the pair, but one look from thier superpowerful psychic mother told him otherwise.

He could only imagine what sort of punishment they would be in for . . .

The Oak's came next, although probably not the ones you're thinking. Gary Oak and his life partner Tracey nee Sketchit arrived promptly with their adopted four year old daughter Circe. No one was really expecting this strange union, least of all Daisy Waterflower who was sorely disappointed by relationship. She'd had her eye on Tracey Sketchit for the longest time, only to have him nabbed by Gary Oak who had been her substitute crush for a little while after Tracey had stepped out of the closet.

Little Circe Oak immediately ran to BJ's side. She had a very large crush on the young Slate (and probably future breeder) and would not leave his side for the rest of day, much to Brock Junior's disappointment. It was, of course, in the midst of trying to escape Circe that he had been separated from his precious egg and forced to give his new smoochum up to Meowth.

Daisy Waterflower always arrived fashionably late. Unlike her two sisters who had moved off to various exotic regions with their husbands, Daisy remained at the gym living a fabulous single life. She didn't crave companionship or the happy family life of those around them. Instead she was happy enough doting upon her beautiful nieces and nephew and all their honorary siblings that they brought together. She suspected that her little sister had some news she wanted to share today and therefore this picnic would be extra special.

Andrea and Pascal also arrived fashionably late, making a special trip to Pallet for the occasion. They arrived together rather than bringing their respective partners – Andrea was on her third husband, and Pascal was always on the verge of breaking up. They were always happy to see Daisy, who remained firm in her resolution not to populate the earth unless it was completely necessary.

The grandparents arrived together. Delia Ketchum, Professor Samuel Oak, and Elizabeth and Leo Waterflower always carpooled to this event. They were always among the last to arrive due to Elizabeth and Delia's addiction to daytime soaps; the two would not leave until the credits rolled on 'The Young and the Restless'.

Delia's eyes surveyed the scene in search of her son. He had a habit for lateness, and was almost notorious in his late arrivals to this particular event. They even had a sweepstake running this year to see who could guess his time of arrival – the winner got a grocery basket and a honey glazed ham. Delia had one o'clock, which meant she needed him to arrive in about ten minutes if she was going to win. He had, after all, promised to do so.

Eight minutes later they heard the sound of a car pulling up. Nine minutes after that two four year old girls (almost five) chased their ever so slightly younger brother onto the beach. Delia smiled as she greeted her grandchildren, taking her grandson in her arms.

He struggled at the display of affection in front of his friends but Delia didn't care. Ash Junior was the picture of his father, with the one exception of his brilliant blue-green eyes, which were so like his mothers. The girls giggled, their similar cerulean blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Don't think you're getting away that easily," Delia laughed as she let go of their brother and pounced on the two girls. She kissed their foreheads and wrapped her arms around them simultaneously. Their faces were starting to look more like their mother, although they had Ash's dark locks and smile. She just knew that Brooke and Tracie were going to be heart breakers in the future.

The stragglers of the group were finally arriving, Misty and Ash walking over to them with the eighteen month old Emilie Sakura (for Daisy) in a portable bassinet they carried between them. As the pair got closer it became evident to all that suspected that Misty did in fact have news for them. It looked as though another member would soon be joining this group and that next years gathering would include one more (two if Brock got his way with the soccer team).

Life seemed perfect for all involved. There was success a plenty. Happiness was a foot. And there were no regrets. Well, all but one . . .

_'I don't regret the life I chose,'_ Misty thought to herself as she smiled at her husband and friends gathered around her, _'only that I choose not to spend it with Ash.'_

But one can't avoid their destiny, and this was Misty's. If only more of us could be destined for such a life, for such happiness. And all it took was a journey back home.

Back to Sweet Home Pallet.

* * *

And now for your teaser . . . I think it's self explanatory.

"Ok. Thank you," the seventeen year old (almost eighteen) said with polite decorum before hanging up the phone.

Her baby Pokémon watched her carefully as the girl took a deep breath, holding her tiny paws over her extra sensitive ears as she waited for her mothers scream.

"He's coming! He's coming! He's coming! He's coming!" Misty screamed excitedly, bouncing around the room with a wide grin and spinning herself and Marril around in circles.

"Daisy!" she screamed, after taking another deep breath, running all over the house in search of her youngest older sister.

"Out here," Daisy replied.

Misty ran out to meet her, finding her sister outside staring unabashedly at the arse of a shirtless handyman. The strangest thing about this was the fact that they had just had the grounds landscaped two weeks ago so his presence was in no way accounted for.

"Daisy, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing here," the handyman complained. He waved at Misty who tried not to shudder; sometimes Daisy's 'fascinations' really disturbed her.

"Just keep looking Tracy, I'm sure you'll find it," Daisy replied somewhat distractedly, not even looking up to greet Misty.

"Daisy, what are you doing?" Misty asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow at her sister.

"I'm supervising," Daisy retorted, a slight blush gracing her cheeks now that had had been found out.

"But we just . . ." Misty began, but shook her head, not wanting to waste valuable seconds on her sister's perversion. "Never mind, there are more important matters to deal with right now. Ash is going to be here in three days, two if he doesn't get lost or distracted, and I have nothing to wear."

"You're right," Daisy replied, hugging Misty empathetically before turning back to the handy man. "Tracy, take a break. I'll be back."

"Did you still want me to clean the Gyrados tank?" he asked, pulling her shirt back on to Daisy's displeasure.

"No it's fine," Diasy replied with a smile and a knowing glance at Misty. "I'm sure it can wait a couple of days."

"Did you do it?" Ash asked Brock urgently, his eyes sparkling with hope, mischief and excitement.

"Yes," Brock replied simply, watching at the sixteen year olds excitement seemed to bubble over and he sped around the clearing doing some kind of crazy victory dance and collecting Pokémon in his wake.

"Why is he acting like ten year old on a sugar high?" Dawn asked, looking up from an article on pre-teen heartthrob Gideon Viridian. "And I should know," she added, putting on her most mature voice, "because it's only a fairly recent development for me to be not ten."

Brock simply watched for a few moments, as Ash seemed to pick up speed. Pikachu joined in Ash's little dance, making various cheers of 'Pikapi' and 'Pikachupi' to what sounded suspiciously like the K-I-S-S-I-N-G rhyme he remembered from his childhood. Given what Brock understood of Pikachu's native tongue, it was an appropriate sentiment.

"I could tell you Dawn," he said solemnly, finally turning to Dawn with concern in his eyes, "but I'm kind of hoping he'll figure it out for himself."

"Aw c'mon Brock," Dawn replied, trying to wear him down. "I promise I won't tell."

Brock refused to budge. "It's for your own good Dawn. I don't want to burden someone so young with this knowledge. The temptation to tell will be too great and one day you'll just snap and wrap your hands around his neck and start shaking him until he finally gets the bloody picture!"

All eyes in the area turned to Brock as he finished his outburst, panting heavily from the exertion.

"Or something like that," he added sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. It was a habit undoubtedly picked up from spending too much time with Ash. "Gotta go fill the waters," he said, running out of the campsite.

"Gotta go write my log," Ash said quickly, grabbing Pikachu and his backpack, and racing off in the opposite direction to Brock.

"Boys," Dawn mattered, settling herself back down to her magazine. "If only all boys could be like you, Gideon Viridian."


End file.
